


Hermitcraft Oneshots & Stories (Requests Open)

by GrumbotNGrianLover



Category: Hermitcraft, Hermitcraft RPF, Hermitcraft SMP, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: AUS Allowed, Aether Jevin - Freeform, Anything goes - Freeform, Bird Grian, Canon Allowed, Dad Xisuma, Dadsuma, Dadsuma?, Deer Mumbo, Deer!Mumbo, Definately Dadsuma, Doc and Iskall pranked by grian, Docm77 angst, Evil Xisuma Angst, F/F, F/M, Gen, Helsknight angst, Hermitcraft season 6, Hitman Iskall, Kitsune Etho - Freeform, Like he is a literal deer! Mumbo, Lots of Dadsuma, M/M, Multi, OC Villains, Other, Pirate Wels - Freeform, Protective Xisuma - Freeform, Protective!Xisuma, Sailor Wels - Freeform, Some sad Xisuma too, Temporary Character Death, Uncle Evil X, Voidwalker Xisuma, Watcher Grian, Winged Charles | Grian, Winged Grian, generic bad guys, ghost joe, have fun with it, hermitcraft season 7, medusa xb, medusa xbcrafted - Freeform, mother spore - Freeform, mother spore grian - Freeform, pranky bois, requests are open, requests open, respawn accident, some upset Etho too, some upset xB, voidwalker - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:47:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 61,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28331844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumbotNGrianLover/pseuds/GrumbotNGrianLover
Summary: This is for little one shot stories of various ships and chaotic energy of scenarios of fluff or shippy potential. Specially fluff. It may also contain hurt/comfort or other types of writing, but all Chapters will be labeled ahead of time if there's something I think needs a warning. Hence why I didn't click any of the warnings above, because I don't know what people will be requesting me to write.I only put a couple ships in the tags that I am fond of, but I'll be adding characters and ships to the tags as this Work Evolves. I've not written anything for the ships in the tags yet, but I am more than willing to do so, should someone request it.Edit: I've added whether or not Requests were open to the title, and I'm putting it here. They are open. You make requests by leaving a comment.Also! If you happen to see any typos? Please point them out. I've noticed a few when rereading, but then I go to edit and I forget which chapter and where they are. I know there's one spot where it says "my" instead of "by" and "one" instead of "on" but I can't find them when I go to try and fix them.
Relationships: Bdoc - Relationship, Charles | Grian & Steffen Mossner | Docm77, Charles | Grian/GoodTimesWithScar, Charles | Grian/Steffen Mossner | Docm77, Charles | Grian/Xisumavoid, Doc/BDubs, Doc/Ren, Docm77/BdoubleO100, Docm77/Rendog, Grian/Mumbo, Keralis/Xisuma, Oliver Brotherhood/Charles | Grian/GoodTimesWithScar/Viktor | Iskall85, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Ren/Doc, RenDog/Docm77, Tango Tek & Zedaph (Video Blogging RPF), Tango Tek/Zedaph (Video Blogging RPF), XbCrafted/Keralis, ZIT ship, bdubs/scar, impulseSV & Tango Tek & Zedaph (Video Blogging RPF), impulseSV & Zedaph (Video Blogging RPF), impulseSV/Tango Tek (Video Blogging RPF), keralis/xbcrafted, zedaph/impulse/tango
Comments: 461
Kudos: 253





	1. Request Rules!!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at anything like this. Give me some patience. And when it comes to writing the Hermits, don't expect their personalities to be exact. For the most part, any personalities I write will have been from Binge Watching Grian, watching a couple of their episodes here or there, TV Tropes, Fandom Wikis, Elybeatmaker songs, and other fanfiction I have read. This is me trying to improve my writing skills and to force me to go watch some of the other Hermits should you request them.
> 
> That being said, "Constructive" critiques would be nice. I don't know a lot about a good portion of the hermits, so personalities and stuff being commented on would be nice if it is to give some advice on how to write a hermit better.
> 
> If I come off as rude, I don't mean to. I'm just trying to be a little blunt. Establish rules and such.

This is my first ever post on this site, and I don't expect anything that I post here to be good, but maybe I can write something you all can enjoy.

This First Chapter is just me asking for requests, and Second chapter will just be a randomly generated ship that I will have to come up with something for. I've not done the random generation yet, as I wanted to set this first chapter up first. I'll be doing that after posting this and going to make some food for myself.

I'll write _anything within reason._ **_Any Ship. Any Genre. Anything._** For the Moment though, this is just kinda, a test run. I've not written a fanfic or a oneshot before. Not for other people to see, but I want to give it a try.

Most ships are welcome here as I do not judge, but do keep in mind that I don't know much about the some of the hermits, which include Zedaph, Beef, TinFoilChef, or Hypno. I keep meaning to go watch some of their stuff.

Some info for you all to keep in mind before you make requests: My favorite Hermit to watch is Grian. I'm fond of Scar, BDubs, Mumbo, Impulse, and Wels. I've watched a little of everyone, and I am a role-player at heart. Know that any ships are with the characters that are portrayed and not real people. I'll be using how they act and portray their minecraft characters while on the Hermitcraft server specifically (I.E. No Evo for Grian. I don't even know what Evo is. No Vault Hunter Iskall). If you want me to reference something like Evo or Vault Hunter, you'll have to explain it to me, as I've only watched Hermitcraft.

((This is an Edit I'm adding in. Edit stops at the next parentheses. I've started learning about things like Mindcrack, Evo, and Vault Hunter and etc.! So, **_AMENDMENT_** to the rule above. _IF YOU EXPLAIN,_ you can request it be referenced in writing.))

I will _allow_ requests with Evil Xisuma and Helsknight. Any request with Grumbot or Jrumbot will automatically be fluff and not relationships because they be children. I will allow requests like for the Jingler or Poultryman as well.

 _Multi/Poly ships are allowed!_ I've actually been planning to write a small thing with a couple ship ideas I've had, but I keep putting it off.

 **Note:** If you request a character I've not listed, you may need to give me the video to find said character. Be it just a name or something, I'd like to be able to know what I'm writing about. For example! If you wanted me to write a oneshot about Docm77 babysitting the Button as a small android bot (someone suggested that to me when talking once), and I didn't know what the Button was, or you called the Button something like Cyclops (I've seen that name floating around for the Button), then you'd have to tell me. If you wanted me to write something about Burnie (Iskall's leaf collecting robot) and I didn't know, I'd need a ref. If you wanted me to write something about Scar's monster plant (Scarra) and I didn't know what that was, you'd have to point me in the right direction. You want me to write something about Grians Season 6 computer to take Mumbo's stache away gaining sentience and a body (I've taken to calling the computer Circuit, as I've seen some others do so too)? I need to know about the computer first, but sure. I don't just write ships. I am open to writing like, fluff and family stuff too.

On another note, you can request other things too! For example, I encountered someone who suggested each of the hermits have their own sets of abilities! (For Example, BDubs singlehandedly being Multiplayer Sleep, Xisuma with Admin Powers, Tango with demon power, Scar with Magic, Vex Cub, Grian slips through the cracks of reality, etc). If you want me to write something about THAT, I am more than willing. Maybe a power goes wrong. Maybe something happens. I'm open to suggestions. Just make sure to explain your thought process a tiny bit if you do. For example, you can't just go like "Mumbo with Powers" because then that leaves me confused. What kind of powers? What type of story? Happy? Angst? Comfort? I need more than that. Now, you can't type too much, but you don't have to type an essay either. If you type something like I have above when giving examples, I'll have a pretty good idea of what to do.

Now, Partially unrelated, I'm probably not going to do something with "Grian Slips Through the Cracks of Reality" for a long while, but I'm sure you all saw that and were a little confused or intrigued, but I have an idea I'm sitting on. I've seen multiple people give Grian multiple different abilities, from being a "watcher" to other things. Something someone else suggested to me is, you all remember the game Demise, right? Well, what if everyone else, the skins and stuff are just costumes and make-up, but for poor Grian, it's not just a outfit. So when he goes all grey, he goes emotionless too. That's just a small example. Other people suggested things to me like Grian becoming part dragon during the Dragon Bros thing, Grian with Wings, etc. I'm sharing this idea, because if I don't write it, I want someone to take the idea and RUN with it and see how far it goes. Specially with Polyships or Multiships? Or even just "hey bro, are you okay" type stuff. Then again, you could also make a request and see how far I will be willing to take it. That could happen too.

The point of this first chapter is to set some basis and some rules, because I want there to be ground rules, as this is a place for fun and for giggles and snorts. Ships allowed and such, and any prompt welcome. That being said, I have limits and I have rules. I will not back down from any of these rules either. These are serious.

I know I said I'll write anything, but I have to have limits. Domestic stuff is fine. Drama, is fine. Hell, Sex is iffy on the writing scale for me so let me get some normal chapters in first before I even try anything like that, but I'll still write it. Hurt comfort and angst? SURE. Please do not ask me to kill someone permanently, please. I will cry, but in the end, I'll still write it because I'm a sucker for the pain. Or even just temporary death, but please...don't hurt me too much. Also, if you want to request a second part to something I write (like a second part to what is originally just one chapter) I will write it. I love storyboarding and making stories. I just need a bit of encouragement here or there.

 **HOWEVER,** if you want there to be like, a **BAD GUY** in one of these oneshots, I will NOT use any of the hermits or their creations (like Evil Xisuma or Helsknight). If you want a bad guy, give me a generic name and a basic personality trait and I will craft a one off bad guy for the one shot as I will not make ANY of the Hermits an intentional villain. They can be controlled by something though, if you want. Possessed or something. But I refuse to make a Hermit the true villain of any of these. Being controlled, hypnotized, possessed, or things like that are all free game though.

I WILL write AU stuff, but you may need to explain the AU in some instances, or just make up your own.

I will NOT write any sort of mature content involving the robot children, or any other children that may come from various creations of the Hermits. I will allow them to get in trouble, be attacked and that stuff, but no one will be "touching" the children. No. **HARD NO**. Don't even let that **THOUGHT** come to **PASS.** If you want to make one of the Hermits suffer because you adore them to pieces, **FINE. But LEAVE THE CHILDREN OUT OF IT.** I'm serious. If you even jokingly make a request like that. Don't. My foot is DOWN. And don't jokingly make requests to ship the children either, because I won't ship the children. They are small and precious and baby. Creations like Poultryman can be shipped, but not the robot children. Don't even hint or suggest. **NO.**

I may need a short break should you ask for certain things to be written (like one of the Hermits having emotional breakdowns) because I WILL start to feel emotional and have my OWN emotional breakdown. Specially with Abandonment. That one sucks, but is a GREAT tool for fanfiction. I have a lot of empathy, and that means that sometimes, I get upset when having to write things like this. I've only learned the hard way because of Roleplays that ended up with things like this. I want to write a few like this though, so do NOT let that make you back down on making a request. Make it. Make me suffer and I'll help you suffer too. Let's suffer together. We love these characters! We love these people! It's why we enjoy to suffer.

On another note: It may take me a long time between requests. I don't write often, and as much as I want to be a good writer, I am not yet. I get writer's Block way too easily too. That's actually another point to this. I want requests and people wanting to see what I can come up with, BECAUSE I want to write and improve. I want people to request various ships and people and scenarios to explore the different dynamics that people have. Having people who expect things from me, who want to see what I can come up with, it's like putting an artificial deadline on me. I'd procrastinate this _FOREVER_ otherwise.

 **Note 508 (x3):** You don't HAVE to request a ship, or an AU. If you just want a Hermit and something else happening, that's fine. Also know that the second Chapter for this, will not be out tonight. What is hilarious is I've made this in an attempt to procrastinate a little comic I was going to try and draw. I was putting off making anything under AO3 because it terrifies me. What's probably going to happen once this is posted is I'm going to use the bathroom and then make food for myself and do some self care, as I am sick. Then, if I'm not too tired, I will put all the Hermits names (including Evil Xisuma and Helsknight) into a random generator, and get a ship to give an example of my writing for something small. Probably fluff in some way, or hurt/comfort. If I have any requests by then, I will start work on the first one and reply to comments. From that point on, I will do my best. I look forward to seeing what you all request over time, and I look forward to learning and trying to grow as a writer.

PS: I changed my mind about waiting for the ship. I'm putting them in a generator now and adding whatever it is to the next line.

Alright, the Random Generator came up with this: Keralis and xBCrafted. Which...I honestly don't know where to start with that one...Probably a Mycelium Resistance and H.E.P. thing. IDK. I'll see what I come up with after food. Don't expect it to be a long chapter though, as I honestly have no clue what to do with that. I'll also have to check to see if Keralis has a nickname for xB. I'll probably only add ships to the tags that people request after this is posted, and not the ones I write for fun. Though do have fun with it.

I look forward to seeing what you all request. Chapter 2 will be short as it's just going to be a little bit of fluff probably (as I have no ideas at the moment. Maybe I'll get some as I'm making food). I am excited for requests though, either ships, interactions, aus, whatever.


	2. Come Home to Me (Keralis x xBCrafted)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An argument gone wrong made things go black and white. A war made a small divide bigger. A game gone wrong shocks the world.
> 
> The war between H.E.P. and the Resistance left a strain. Sleepless Nights. Cold beds. Glasses half full. Bright cities in monochrome. All he wants is to cuddle with his sweet face again.
> 
> And all he wants is to go home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly had NO CLUE what to write until I found that xB had a video that he did with Keralis. Keralis called him Sweet Face in the video and I aw'd. Then I started listening to music and got this idea: During the war, they were on separate sides. What if they had an argument before the war and that's why they were on separate sides.
> 
> Here's what I listened to while writing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Imk7kIpgos
> 
> You don't have to listen to it while reading, but it's Sam Smith's Stay With Me. I basically had this song on loop while writing this chapter.
> 
> This was my first attempt at writing anything, to be honest, so I don't think it's the best I could have made, but I am mildly happy with it.
> 
> Special thanks in this chapter to Grian's Server Tour Video, which helped me figure out a lot about how to write this, as well as xB's Ep 8, for letting me have a small glimpse into how they normally interact. Like, it's so precious. Keralis called him Sweet Face, Sweetheart, Sunshine...omg. I have such a smile on my face.
> 
> WARNINGS: xB does get injured, but I don't go into much detail about it. There's mostly just a lot of emotions, and some insomnia.

xB sighed. It had been a long day. H.E.P. had discovered their secret base, and Mother Spore (he couldn't keep a straight face when calling Grian that) built an entire island to house their new, not so hidden, base. He had been sleeping at the base instead of going home, and the other Resistance members were starting to get a bit worried. He shakily got up after another restless night, and went outside to the edge of the base island, staring up at the sky as he watched the sun rise. He yawned a bit and just sat there, in the cold morning, watching the sky shift colors.

 _Pew pew pew_ is what he heard as he sat there. He heard some dirt shifting as someone landed with their Elytra. He listened as footsteps approached and he waited. Grian sat next to him and offered a bottle of coffee. "Were you here all night again, xB? You look exhausted..." He looked at him with worry.

xB rolled his eyes and took the bottled coffee. He twisted the cap open and sipped it. "Cub ordered stuff from the mainlands again?" 

Grian sighed. "You can't ignore my question, but yes. He did. Food, drinks...he actually has a whole crate of stuff for you when you get the chance. He said you asked for stuff...?"

xB shook his head. "I'll have to talk to him about it...later that is...probably cornering him..." He looked out over the water.

Grian sighed. "Talk to me xB...You've been sad ever since you joined this playful war of mine with Scar..."

xB looked down and sighed. "Keralis and I had a fight is all...before I joined and uh...he joined H.E.P...Honestly...I know the war is play and stuff but...Keralis and I had just been arguing more and more...and I got sick of it..."

Grian looked xB, taking note of his shaking. "I'm guessing that's when you started to stay at base instead of leaving?" 

xB nodded slowly. "Yeah...it is...I...I don't know what to do...everything seems so...monochrome and I...I...just...I--" The words got caught in his throat. He felt as stinging warm liquid started to run down his cheeks. He brought his hands up to his face and the tears rolling down it. "...I just...want...I want..."

Grian pulled xB into a tight hug. "I understand...You don't need to say anything else, xB...but you need more sleep. Come stay at my base for a couple nights at least. Get some good sleep and food in you..."

xB silently nodded and let Grian pull him away from the Resistance base. Everything felt like lead. His head hurt and he didn't fully register where Grian was pulling him. He didn't register when he was forced to lay in a warm bed, or when he was given warm soup. He just wanted to cry and hide away. Grian made sure to look after him and informed the other Resistance members of why he wasn't going to be able to help set up defenses for the base (not that Grian wanted to get mixed up with whatever Doc was working with anyways). 

* * *

Keralis sighed, watching the sunrise. He had been working on keeping the shopping district pretty with HEP, but he missed his Sweet Face. It had been a dumb argument about their builds and about how far away xB was. It got out of hand and then the Turf War started. He got out a bottle of water and sipped it. He then noticed out of the corner of his eye, Grian talking to Cub and grabbing two bottles of what seemed to be coffee. He watched him fly away and walked over to Cub afterwards. He waved slightly.

Cub smiled a bit. "Good Morning Keralis. Mind helping me out a little? Shipments from the mainlands got here with stuff that we can't normally get out here came in and I was working on separating everyone's crates and setting them in the area below the City Hall in segmented areas for what people ordered."

Keralis nodded. "Morning, and sure. I can help out." He stretched and then began helping Cub move stuff inside and sort the crates. 

They worked silently for a while, but Cub spoke up after Keralis yawned for the 50th time. "Keralis, are you alright? You've been yawning a lot."

Keralis sighed. "I've not managed a full night's sleep in a while. I'll be fine though. Hopefully, soon, I'll be able to sleep well."

Cub nodded. "I understand that...I hope things get better then. Maybe you can have some of my tea I ordered. It helps me sleep when I get restless."

"Maybe. Maybe...for now though, I'd like to just finish this up and head to my build and keep working." Keralis hummed.

Cub smirked a bit. "The city does look great."

Keralis nodded. "Thanks...It's been a work in progress." He spaced out a little as he thought about showing xB around his build and them sharing food and sharing ideas. He felt himself start to cry and took a moment to sit down.

Cub frowned and walked over. "You want to talk about it?"

Keralis shook his head and hiccupped. He took a deep breath as he started to cry. "...Sweetheart and I haven't spoken since our argument before the war...and he hasn't come home either...I'm worried he isn't taking care of himself..."

Cub blinked and rubbed Keralis's back. "Take a deep breath...xB will be fine...and I'm sure things will get better. If it makes you feel any better, Grian told me he was going to go check on xB and make sure he's doing alright..."

Keralis nodded. "I do...I do feel better knowing that he has someone looking out for him...He gets burnt out and I get worried..." 

Cub hummed a bit. "Yeah. I understand that...Hopefully we can end this war soon so you and xB can talk without anything inbetween you guys..."

Keralis hiccupped a little. "It was a stupid argument...I just...thought his base was a little too far away...I wanted to spend more time with him...I...everything seems so dull now...lacking..." Cub hugged Keralis and they stood there for a while before going back to work. The war just needed to end is all...right?

* * *

Grian had suggested they end the war with a bunch of minigames. It was a fun idea and not as bad as the all out war from Season 6. Everyone had gathered to play the games and things had been going well, until they weren't. Something went wrong when xB was helping set up Floatage. Some TNT didn't set right and xB got sent flying without an elytra. He hit the ground and everyone stopped what they were doing. It all hurt. It hurt to move and it hurt to breathe. He choked slightly as he cried.

Keralis shoved various hermits out of his way. "SUNSHINE!!!" He rushed to xB's side as Xisuma and Doc began to treat the injured Hermit. "Sunshine! It-It's gonna be okay! You're gonna be okay, just breathe. I know it hurts but you gotta keep calm..." Keralis trembled. He could barely stay standing as he carefully took ahold of one of xB's hands.

xB slowly glanced to Keralis. "...I-I am calm...take a deep breath...okay?" He could tell Keralis was bordering a panic attack. Xisuma and Doc gave him regen and health potions. "I'll be okay...a little bit of TNT isn't going to take me down..."

Keralis took a shaky breath in and nodded. "...O-Okay...I...I...don't scare me like that Sunshine...I...I don't know what I would do..."

xB started to cry a little as Xisuma and Doc checked him over and bandaged him up. "I'm sorry...I...I didn't mean...I..." Once they helped him sit up, he hugged Keralis tightly. "I missed you..."

Keralis began to cry as well and gently hugged back. "I missed you too..." He then looked around and carefully lifted xB. "Stay with me?"

xB snorted a little, wincing and nodded. "Always...I'm sorry for our fight..."

Keralis shook his head. "No. I'm sorry...I shouldn't have kept trying to argue--"

xB glared a little. "It's on me too..."

Keralis gave a small smile, and he was encouraged to take xB home so that he could rest up and heal. The minigames would be postpone until xB healed. He flew home with xB in his arms and then put him in bed. "Need anything, sunshine?"

xB rolled his eyes a little and smiled. "I need you to stay with me...that's all I need right now...Hold my hand and stay with me..."

Keralis smiled and nodded, cuddling with xB. "Of course...anything, sunshine."

xB smiled a big smile and cuddled back. "...Thank you...I'm glad I'm home..." He then closed his eyes as he drifted into sleep.

Keralis smiled and kissed his forehead and closed his eyes as well, falling asleep with him, glad to have xB home.


	3. Trypophobia (Protective!Xisuma)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by A Name (AO3 Guest): Could I get Xisuma being protective of the other hermits? Maybe some of them get kidnapped by a hybrid black market group and xisuma tries to keep the kidnappers attention on himself so the others don't get hurt.
> 
> Answer: Yes. Yes you can. Have a very protective, and very angry, Xisuma. Bonus: I added Evil X too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: There will be violence and a bit of gore in this chapter, as well as death, but none of the hermits die! Keep that in mind as you read!
> 
> Also, I think I'm probably going to turn this into a habit, but I listened to another song on a loop while writing this. 
> 
> Here's a link if you want it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7vRNY7Vsy4
> 
> If you don't want the link, it's the song for the Trypophobia meme. Amygdala's Rag Doll, if you wanted the name.

“Don’t you fucking DARE TOUCH THEM!!” Xisuma’s blood was boiling. These...BASTARDS had come onto HIS server, the land he chose for his group of friends to build up for all to enjoy, and tried to kidnap HIS friends! His fellow Hermits! The problem was, he couldn’t handle them on his own. There were too many and his friends were either injured, bound, or unconscious. He looked at the one who they had been about to cut a sword into. Cleo. Sure, she was part zombie, but she didn’t deserve this treatment. They had knocked Doc out and IJevin was tied up. 

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it?” The leader of the group moved his sword closer to Cleo, who watched the blade with wide, terrified eyes.

Xisuma felt his blood go cold. He couldn’t let them hurt his friends. No matter what happened, that was not something he would allow. “DON’T!!! DON’T Touch them! F...Focus on me instead! I’m part Ender!!!” He reached out towards Cleo, silently hoping that his declaration distracted them from her.

The man stopped and turned to Xisuma. “Oh? You are part Ender?” He took his sword and hit Xisuma with the hilt across his head. 

Xisuma winced, his vision swimming slightly. “Bastard.” The man grabbed Xisuma by the neck and stabbed him in the gut. He felt the burning pain spread as his blood began to flow out of his wound. He grit his teeth a bit as he glared up at the man and spat on his face. “Go to hell…” He felt rage boiling, but he couldn’t do anything outnumbered and his friends captive.

“You are going to REGRET doing that.” The leader snarled.

“XISUMA!!” Cleo cried out in worry, trying to reach out to him.

Xisuma hissed a bit and punched the leader in the face. “I’m fine Cleo! Just be quiet and let me handle this!” Xisuma wasn’t about to let any of his Hermits get hurt. These men had jumped them when there were only a few of them. Xisuma could only pray that the others found them before these bastards could take them someplace where they couldn’t be reached.

“You insignificant WORM!” The leader punched Xisuma in the gut where he had been stabbed before and stabbed his right arm. It made his vision swim and caused Xisuma to double over from the pain. “How DARE you spit on me you FREAK!! You will REGRET interfering!” He snarled at Xisuma.

Cleo was crying. Xisuma kicked out at the man though, trying to fight back, so they would ignore her, and that resulted in him being pinned down and his left leg getting stabbed right below his knee. He grit his teeth, trying to ignore the building pain. Everything hurt and he knew he was bleeding quite a bit. “Do you honestly think I’m going to back down because you stab me? You all will regret trying to pull this.”

“Hahahahah! Oh you think that, but you’re the one who is going to regret trying to interfere! MEN! Get me some rope” The man smiled cruelly. The men who had been by Jevin walked over and gave the leader rope.

Xisuma gasped as rope wrapped around his neck and he started to be deprived of oxygen. His lungs began to burn. Everything was burning. He clawed at the rope, gasping. He couldn’t die here. His friends needed him to survive so he could keep them safe. Doc needed help. Jevin needed help. Cleo needed help. He tried to get the rope off of his neck, but it got tighter and he choked a bit. His vision started to black out, when all of a sudden he could breathe again. He gasped and sucked in a huge breath of air.

Standing, very pissed and angry, in front of Xisuma, was his brother, whom all the Hermits knew as Evil X or Ex. Xisuma knew his brother better than the hermits though, and he knew that his Xixi was pissed. Ex threw down a regen and a health potion onto his brother and tossed him a sword. “Get up Xisuma. You have some trash to take out.”

“But what about-” That was then when Xisuma noticed. Jevin was free, and Cleo and Jevin were carrying Doc away. Ex had freed them while Xisuma was distracting the bastards. Xisuma grinned a malicious grin. He didn’t have to hold back anymore. These bastards were about to PAY for coming after HIS hermits. “Ohohohoh~ Thank you Brother~” He lifted his sword. “You wouldn’t happen to have a strength potion and a swiftness potion, would you?”

Ex laughed and used a couple splash potions on himself and his brother. “And resistance too~” 

“Oh thank you, brother. You read my mind~” He took a step towards the group who had thought it a good idea to come after his hermits. They all took a step away from him and he grinned more. He did not hesitate to swing his sword, cutting off the head of the leader of the group. “NEVER come after MY HERMITS...AGAIN!” 

Ex turned and walked back over to IJevin, Cleo, and Doc and made sure they were okay with some potions of regeneration and health potions. He also stood within their line of sight so they wouldn’t have to watch Xisuma’s righteous fury. “Where does it hurt? I’ve got some potent potion that I can apply to injuries for instant healing.”

Cleo hesitated. “My wrists and knees hurt…”

IJevin glanced at the unconscious Doc. “My head feels like it is splitting…”

Ex nodded and applied the potion to them. “Give it a couple seconds.” He then checked over Doc and made sure that he wasn’t injured much.

Xisuma didn’t care too much for these intruders. He swung his sword to execute them. Of course, he didn’t stop them from respawning...in a location that was anywhere that WASN’T his server. His area for HIS hermits and his friends. The place for his family where they could be safe was not for them! He used some Ender magic to banish them from the area where his friends would be building for the extended amount of time. He had been tempted to curse them, but he didn’t want his friends to witness the worst of him, so when he noticed Ex was blocking their view of him, he had been grateful. It hadn’t stopped them from hearing the men scream in pain, but they hadn’t seen him slice them up. They hadn’t watched him brutally murder these people for touching them. 

Ex noticed his brother shaking and threw him a bucket of water. He helped Cleo and IJevin stand up. “Alright. Let’s go to my brother’s base. You all can take time to recover there.”

Xisuma cleaned himself off quickly before Cleo and Jevin could notice the blood on him from the people whose bodies were no longer there. If they set their spawn, they probably respawned somewhere far from the server since they had been banned with Ender magic, but if they didn’t have a spawn set, then Xisuma’s banishment would dump their bodies into the void. Xisuma was the nice one, yes, but no one threatened his hermits and got away with it. “Yeah. Come on. I’ve got food and medical supplies at my base.”

Jevin and Cleo nodded. They both lifted Doc and followed Ex and Xisuma as they went to Xisuma’s base. Xisuma made them lay Doc on a bed and checked him over first. After checking on Doc, he went and checked over Jevin and Cleo. He relaxed once he saw they were okay, and then it was their turn to fuss over him. He had been STABBED! They had been worried the whole time, and his injuries hadn’t fully closed before he lost his temper.

Ex sighed and helped Jevin and Cleo bandage Xisuma up and treated his wounds. “You should be more careful, ‘Suma…”

Xisuma looked away. “Better me than them…I can handle it--”

Cleo started to cry. “NO! Please don’t do that again if you can avoid it...Please…”

Jevin teared up a little too. “You risked yourself for us...I...you are just as important as we are, Xisuma. You worried us so much…” He hugged Xisuma. Cleo hugged him too.

Xisuma blinked and teared up a little and hugged back. “I’m sorry for worrying you both...I wasn’t about to let you get hurt though...Not as long as I could still move…”

Ex smiled a bit and focused on the unconscious hermit, leaving the three softies to their comfort. He knew they needed this though. After what happened, he understood why.

Cleo sobbed a little. “T-They tried to kill you…” She clung to her friend.

IJevin hiccuped a little and hugged both Cleo and Xisuma. “If Ex hadn’t come…”

Xisuma patted their heads and hugged both of them close. “I’m okay guys...I am okay and Ex did come, so there is no need to think or worry about what ifs. Let’s get some rest, alright? Everything will be okay now.” Cleo and Jevin nodded, and Xisuma made them both lay down in beds. He laid down in a nearby bed. Ex smiled a bit as they all fell asleep to rest and recover. Nothing would touch their hermits. Ex went to subtly check on everyone and then he went back to Xisuma’s base to keep an eye on his brother and friends while they rested. He could rest himself later.


	4. Rule The World (Helsknight Angst)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had been trapped. He was let out. He tried to take over and destroy things...
> 
> He just wanted to be heard. To be seen.
> 
> He wanted them to see him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to write a ton for this, but it came to my mind while listening to Everybody Wants to Rule the World. I was listening to the song on the Demise animatic. So ye. I wanted to write it before I lost that inspiration.
> 
> If you want a link to the song, here's a lyric video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9T-2Fb_ZlY
> 
> Warnings: This is gonna be dark. Hels is gonna be depressive and want to die. Plus he's going to be suffering in multiple ways like starving and such. Plus Self Harm warning. But I've also never written for anything like this before.

He and Welsknight had fought, verbally and physically. He had lost and got trapped. He was sealed away again. Trapped in this DAMN CAGE! He had screamed for so long after being trapped again. He wanted to be let out, but if anyone heard him, they didn't come by. No one came for him. He sighed and paced in his cell. He peered out at the lava falls and then laid down on the floor of his cell. He had no clue how long he had been there. So much time had passed, just like before. Just like before, time passed and he spent so long in the cell that everything was blurring together, from the hunger pangs. He was lucky that he didn't need water. He had been made in the Nether, after all. He still needed food though, which he couldn't get trapped in his cell.

He listened to the lava pops of the nether. The Ghasts crying. The Blaze setting things on fire. The Piglins hunting Hoglins. The clacks of the bones of wither skeletons patrolling the nether fortress his cell was in. The splat of magma cubes hopping around. The sounds of Striders, walking around. It was the same thing every single day. Once in a while, he would hear a faint firework. Probably one of the Hermits doing some nether gathering, but never close enough to find him.

He wondered how long it had been since he had last been out of his cell. He pulled his legs close to himself. He wanted the pain in his chest to go away. He couldn't even end it himself. He didn't have a weapon. The skeletons couldn't reach him. He didn't have access to lava. He wanted it all to go away. He dug his fingernails into his legs, feeling the bite of pain and the drip of his blood down his legs. His chest felt heavy and it hurt.

He sat there, holding his legs tightly, for who knows how long. He felt his insides claw at him in hunger. At least before his confrontation with Wels, he was able to get himself food. Now he was trapped and couldn't do anything. He bit his bottom lip so hard he started to taste blood in an attempt to distract himself from his hunger pangs.

He thought back. When he had escaped the Nether, the Overworld had been so...bright. Colorful. Full of life. He had felt envious of all those living there who hadn't felt what he had. The suffering of the nether. He had lashed out and tried to burn things. He met Welsknight. Someone who reminded him so much of himself. He wondered if they were related. Even if they were, it wouldn't matter. Wels was the one who trapped him back in the Nether after what he did. Maybe he shouldn't have told him he was 'forged in the Nether'. At least then he could have tried to get a prison in the overworld. Someplace not as dark and filled with death.

He blinked as he felt tears roll down his cheeks and evaporate. It hurt. His throat felt constricted. It was like he couldn't breathe, but he knew he could. He slowly stood and beat his hands against the wall. He wanted out! KILL him if he was to be punished! He didn't care! He just didn't want to be trapped any more! He wanted to die more than he wanted to be trapped.

He put his head against the wall, knowing he couldn't break it with the state he was in. He wanted to die, and he couldn't even manage that while trapped unless he waited to starve to death. He dropped to the floor, shaking. It hurt so much, but there was nothing he could do about it. There was nothing he could do but wait for the inevitable. 

At least...that's what he thought. 

He laid there, waiting for his inevitable doom. His eyes were closed. He just wanted to fade to darkness and never wake up. He heard clinking and footsteps. Probably some piglins again. He dug his fingernails into his arms to try and help him ignore the growing pain from the wounds he caused on his legs and the growing hunger pains. He silently cried with his eyes closed. He had screamed himself into losing his voice when he had first been trapped. He then heard a very loud clanging sound of a sword falling to the ground. 

He opened his eyes slowly and they widened when he saw who was standing there. He knew he looked like shit, and he needed to put up his front fast, but he couldn't find himself to really care.

Welsknight had come to taunt him, he was sure of it. He wasn't there for any other reason. He tried to speak, but could only manage a pitiful croak. Wels frowned and walked to the bars of the cell. "Helsknight? You...You look..."

Hels shook his head and tried to speak again. "...k...kill me..."

Wels' eyes widened and he shook his head. "I am not going to kill you Hels...I..." He stopped and looked at him and then picked up his sword and broke the cell open. He walked in and Hels closed his eyes, expecting to be hurt. Wels bent over and carefully picked Hels up. "I'm taking you to my base...Alright? Just...save your energy..."

Hels started to cry some more. He didn't understand. Wels had willingly put him in the cell. Why was he now taking him to his base? "...w...why..." He could barely hear himself.

Wels frowned and picked up his pace, preparing rockets and his elytra. "You didn't deserve this...I should have tried to communicate with you better...Now be quiet..." He took flight, holding tightly to Hels as he flew through the nether towards the portals.

Hels slowly clung to Wels and silently cried. He didn't know if he was actually going to be let out, or if he finally died and this was some sort of afterlife or purgatory. He got choked up and trembled. "...I..."

Wels landed by his portal. "Shhh...I'm sorry Hels...I'm so sorry..." He took him through the portal, and watched as Helsknight silently sobbed and went slightly limp. "I'm so sorry...come on...You need food and rest in a proper bed...as well as some medical care..." He walked into his base and set him down, cleaning and bandaging Hels injuries first. He then brought Hels a light soup for him to eat and some bottled water. "Let me make it up to you...I'm so sorry Hels...I should have never sent you back to the Nether..."

Hels hiccupped softly. "'s kay..." He slowly ate the soup provided and quickly fell asleep on the comfortable bed.

Wels ran his hand through the sleeping Hels hair. "I'm so sorry...my brother..." He sighed a bit. "You didn't deserve this at all...I promise...I'll make it up to you somehow...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...Ex was right...I should have tried harder to listen to you when you were lashing out at the server and everyone..." He sighed and then got to work to build Hels his own room while Hels was asleep. He checked on Hels every 10 minutes, but Hels was fast asleep, unaware of how worried Wels was for him.


	5. Do You See Me (Insecure!Doc)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Tristan_Trans: Would it be ok if you did some type of doc angst? Like he gets insecure of how he looks whilst the hermits go off world and he hides it from the others as he thinks it might make him look weak but then someone asks if he's OK and he spills it all out and then the hermits comfort him. Im not too good with explanations
> 
> Answer: I think this is a great request and I understood what you meant pretty decently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There's some insecurities in here and self blaming and emotional turmoil, but that's about it. It's mostly fluff.
> 
> This is a habit now. I'm just gonna share whatever I was listening to while writing.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bmjks-c3VI
> 
> It doesn't really have any effect on the fic. It's just what I was listening to.

He was waiting. Most of the other hermits had gone with Cub to get supplies that they couldn’t get on their server, like coffee. He hadn’t really felt up to going with them, so he gave a list to Xisuma after telling him that he had too much work to do to go with them. He did too. As the Goatfather, he had a lot of work to do, some on his base and some on a secret project.

He bid the others bye and then went to his base to get to work. He paused in front of a mirror in his base. He put a hand over the robot half of his face. He looked down to the floor. Part creeper, and part robot. He...He didn’t know how to feel. Something felt...off. He started to avoid having to leave Hermitcraft, because at least he doesn’t get judged here. His friends don’t care that he’s part creeper. They don’t care that he has robotic parts. At least, he doesn’t think they do...do they? What if they do and they just don’t say anything? 

He stared at himself in the mirror. Hadn’t….hadn’t all of their initial reactions when they first met him been to jump and recoil, except Xisuma? To back away because he was part creeper? 

His hands twitched a bit and he hissed at his reflection. He balled his hands into fists and took a slow, shaky breath. He’d be fine. He slowly walked on. He had work to do, after all. He...He had work to do and it was fine. Everything was fine. 

He went into his half of the manor and looked out to where BDubs’ half had been...He knew it got moved but...he missed him. BDubs had moved out, and sold his half of the manor to Keralis. Keralis had stuck around for a little bit, but then he moved everything, leaving him alone. Was...Was it something he did? Is that why they didn’t want to stay nearby?

He started to tremble as his eye teared up. He went inside his half of the manor and sat on the bed. He slowly started to rock a little as he felt tears roll down half of his face and his robotic eye shut down from the emotional overload.

He was a bit glad that none of the others were there to see him cry. He couldn’t even get any building done. What was he even doing? He wasn’t supposed to be crying over...over NOTHING! He needed to get to work, but he couldn’t bring himself to get off his bed.

He hiccupped and pulled the blanket around himself. This was stupid. He should just, stop and get up. He should start working right now...being useful. Everything felt so heavy though. Heavy and fuzzy and like he was drowning.

He faintly heard rockets, but brushed them off. It was probably just someone passing by. As long as they didn’t drop in and see him in this state, he wouldn’t have to try and come up with an excuse as to why he wasn’t doing anything productive. He didn’t need to explain anything…No one had to see him being weak and pathetic...

A few minutes passed, and then he heard footsteps and the sound of knocking on his door. He stiffened and listened. BDubs spoke up. “Doc? You alright in there? Do you mind if I come in?”

Doc didn’t trust his own voice. He made a sort of, bubbly hiss. He was shaking and still crying. He didn’t want to be seen like this! He was vulnerable and he hated it.

BDubs frowned and turned the knob, pushing the door open. He looked at Doc and his expression softened. “Oh Doc...What’s wrong…?” He went and sat down on the edge of Doc’s bed. “You can talk to me...I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”

Doc teared up more. “I...I'm not weak! I'm not- I...I just...am I even doing anything useful? I’m not being productive right now and I’m p-part creeper...is that why the others stay away? Is that why you left? I’ll sssstop hissssing...I’ll be good I--” He started to hyperventilate a little.

BDubs quickly hugged Doc. “Doc! Doc! You are fine the way you are! You don’t have to change! It’s okay Doc...really! Breathe! In. Out. It's fine. And you aren't weak. Don’t even start. A build doesn’t need to be useful or productive, and everyone has their days. I’ve not made much progress on my builds either, but that doesn’t mean I’m not being helpful! Also I didn’t leave because you’re half creeper! I left because I found the perfect spot to build...I loved being your neighbor! You need to calm down...There's nothing wrong with getting a little emotional.”

Doc hiccupped a bit and froze when he felt BDubs’ arms wrap around him. It took him a moment before he hugged back. He felt himself tremble a bit. BDubs wasn't judging him? Maybe... “BDubs...I...you...You really...didn’t leave because I’m part creeper? Really? I didn’t...I didn’t chase you away in some form or fashion?”

BDubs rubbed Doc’s back and held him tight. “You didn’t...do you want me to move back in next to you for a little while? I do have to spend more time at my build, but if you want someone nearby…”

Doc sniffled a bit. “You don’t have to...It’s fine...I’m fine alone I-”

“You are obviously NOT fine alone, Doc. You need company and companionship!” BDubs scolded him a little. “You can’t pretend everything is fine all the time. That’s how you get burnt out and super upset! Look. If I can stay with you in your half of the manor, I’ll stick around. Okay? And you should talk to the others about this too. I honestly doubt any of them are avoiding you, and none of them would judge you for having off days.”

Doc looked down and leaned into BDubs’ hug. “You...honestly think I should talk to them about this…?”

“Yeah! Of course I do Doc! This is obviously something that’s bugging you…” The Dubs pulled Doc closer and held him a bit tighter. “And I’m not gonna leave. Alright? You got me here as long as you need me. You should probably just tell everybody something’s bugging you too! None of us want to see you upset, Doc...” He watched as Doc buried his face in his shirt and he rubbed his back. He let Doc do whatever he wanted.

Doc sat there for several minutes, before he grabbed his communicator and hesitated. “What if they judge me…? Or hate me because of this…?”

BDubs frowned. “None of them should judge you for this, and if they do, I will bring them hell! No one will hate you. I promise.”

Doc hesitated a bit before taking a deep breath. “Alright...alright I’ll tell them…”

BDubs nodded. “In whatever way is most comfortable to you...even if you phrase it like a question…” Doc nodded and then sent a message to the main group chat.

 **Doc:** Um...Alright...so uh...Do…

 **BDubs:** Are you typing out word stumbles?

 **Doc:** SHUT UP!

 **BDubs:** Aww, you are blushing~  
**Doc:** I hate you.

 **Grian:** What’s up?  
**Xisuma:** Doc?  
**Doc:** Let me just make sure everyone is actually here, okay?

 **Cub:** I mean, some of us are shopping but I think we all have an eye on our communicators.

 **Cleo:** Yeah. What’s up Doc?

 **Doc:** Do...you all hate me? For not being very useful? Or for being part creeper? I know I’m scary but...are you guys avoiding me?

 **Grian:** What? No. I’m not.

 **Ren:** Of course not. What would make you think that?

 **Doc:** No one’s really been stopping by or hanging out...

 **Cleo:** When we get back, I am coming straight for you to give you a hug Mr.

 **Stress:** Same. We don’t judge, Doc. And don’t say stuff like that! You are very fun to be around and useful isn’t a good measure.

 **Mumbo:** Are you at your base? If so, I’m coming over. We can talk redstone for a bit and hang out!

 **Iskall:** I can even come by after our shopping trip is done!

 **Keralis:** We didn’t mean to make you feel bad…

 **Wels:** Yeah man. Is everything okay?

 **Grian:** Doc?

 **Scar:** Doc? You alright?? Doc?

 **Joe:** Doc, why have you stopped responding?

 **Jevin:** Doc??

Doc couldn’t see the screen from crying. BDubs pat him and smiled a bit. “See? They all care about you Doc. They are even sending worried messages now because you aren’t responding. I’ll just...reassure them all real quick.” He chuckled a bit as he reassured everyone that Doc was fine..

Doc smiled a tad. “Thanks BDoubleO...I...I’m glad you stopped by.”

BDubs rolled his eyes. “Something felt off is all...I’m glad I stopped by too...Everyone’s sending in reassuring and relieved messages...just so you know.” Doc chuckled softly. BDubs smiled. “If something’s bothering you Doc, you just need to talk to us. There’s no judgment from anyone here.”

Doc nodded a bit. “I understand...Thanks...Do...Do you mind if I...just...please stay for a while?”

BDubs smiled a bit. “Of course I’ll stay. Mumbo sent a message saying he was coming over now so…”

Doc smiled. “The spoon can come. It’s fine…” BDubs snorted and smiled. Doc was glad that he had friends as good as these. He looked at his communicator at all the reassuring messages. He snorted as some of the Resistance started a mini war in chat as ‘Mother Spore’ started to worry in the chat. He wondered if it was intentional or not. But he knew things were going to get better. Sure, he wasn’t doing much that day, but he needed the reassurance. He was glad for his friends. They didn’t care that he was part creeper, even when he did. They didn’t care that he couldn’t bring himself to do any building. They just cared if he was okay. It made him feel happy to know they care.


	6. Schadenfreude (Pranked!Doc and Iskall)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Candi_is_a_writer: Can i see a story with someone pranking the cyborg bois
> 
> Answer: Yes. Yes you can. I wanted to make it longer, but I also wanted to leave an ambiguous ending that could potentially lead into something else. In the end, I'm content with what I wrote. I'm not good at writing pranks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There's an accident in the beginning and it mentions a hermit getting hurt, but there's not much to really worry about. Just pranks.
> 
> Also, here's what I was listening to while writing. Hope you like what I wrote!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlYdp8P1s6c

It was supposed to be a harmless prank. Grian hadn’t intended anyone to get hurt. He even set up some basic redstone and was very proud of his prank that he set up. It was just a prank to get someone wet. It wasn’t a targeted prank. He even warned Iskall and Doc that he had set up a prank in the shopping district, because they were doing maintenance on their robotics and so they weren’t fully water-proof. It was all in good fun. Doc got caught in it and shorted out. Iskall had been splashed, but he didn't short out like Doc did. So much panic had happened. He apologized so much when Doc woke up. 

He had been so worried and scared. Doc had let out such a scream of pain that Grian's heart almost stopped when that happened. He had rushed to get help so fast that he almost broke his elytra wings with how fast he had went. Iskall worked on fixing the robotics, and Xisuma helped treat any injuries Doc had gotten from the electrocution. Doc had reassured Grian when he woke again that everything was fine.

Grian had regretted it so much, but then, they pranked him. He got covered with honey, and feathered. They had no clue how much being basically tarred and feathered hurt his feelings. Plus it was so hard to clean off! He got angry. He had apologized so much for accidentally getting them with his prank.

Oh they started a prank war with the WRONG hermit. He had asked Mumbo for redstone lessons with the excuse that he wanted to make some farms. But ohohoh! They will soon see! He learned REDSTONE to get them back. He watched them for a few days to get a good idea of where they would be. Then he began to set up. They would NOT get away with pranking him. If he had to clean up a mess? _SO WOULD THEY!_

Doc was easy to prank. He had been watching over Mumbo’s creation for hours upon hours. Grian’s prank for him was simple. A timed trap. He set it up and then ran to hide. He waited and watched as Doc got up from his nap and started to watch over the robot again. Grian grinned and waited. Just a few more moments. Doc got seated in his spot and then the trap went off.

Doc eyes widened when he heard the redstone components going off. Pistons and droppers. “WHA--” He then got blasted with a bucket of glitter and confetti. He stood there, trying to comprehend what just happened and get the glitter out of his robotics. “I am going to MURDER--”

Grian laughed. He cackled and doubled over and saw Doc whip around to see him. He swallowed a little as Doc’s robotic eye was glowing with rage. “Well, glad to see you aliveBYE!” Grian then turned and RAN. He knew he should let Doc calm down before doing any other interactions with him.

He heard Doc shouting at him as he ran away. “GET BACK HERE GRIAN!” Grian laughed as he ran from Doc. Alright. Now he had to go check on Iskall.

He had set up something similar for Iskall. He went to where Iskall was working and got on his hidden perch and waited.

Iskall had been working on his Omega Tree. He yawned a bit and went and sat down. He heard redstone go off and jumped up. “What-?” He got blasted with powdered purple and glitter and confetti. He blinked and tried to dust himself off. “Nooooooooooo! Not glitter! Who could be so cruel?”

Grian cackled and fell over. Iskall’s head snapped to him. Grian gave a wave. “Well! Good to see you’re doing well! LATERS!” He then took flight.

Iskall growled and shouted at Grian as he flew away. “I WILL GET YOU!” He then snorted as Grian did a loop and flew away. He turned to inspect the redstone trap and hummed. “He’s really improved his redstone...This is impressive…”

Doc snorted as he walked over, having come out of the Nether. “Looks like he got you too. He did a similar trap on me, but it seems like mine was set on a timer while yours was triggered.”

Iskall looked at Doc in disbelief. “He made a redstone TIMER? Oh my god...I am so proud of him.”

Doc snorted and laughed. “Yeah, and to be fair, we did feather him. It’s only fair that he got us back…”

Iskall grinned. “You already have a plan to get him back, don’t you?”

Doc nodded. “Let him be paranoid. Let him be jumpy and think we’re after him at every turn.” He chuckled. “I think that’s payback enough for the glitter, don’t you think?”

Iskall laughed and nodded. “Yeah. I do. Want to help me with my tree?”

Doc rolled his eyes. “Hell no. Just wanted to see if he got you too. If he hadn’t, I would have had to step up, but he did.”

Iskall shook his head. “You just wanted me to suffer with you!”

Doc nodded. “Yes. Suffer.”

Iskall gave Doc a light shove. “Ass!”

Doc snorted and began walking back to the nether portal. “Welp. I have to get back to babysitting. Good luck on your tree, Iskall.”

Iskall shook his head and got back to work. “Have fun then!”

Grian landed at his base, content. He pranked them back for the honey and feathers prank! He got back to work on his base, but he couldn’t help this...nagging feeling that they would come after him. 

He jumped whenever he heard rockets and looked around. He was expecting retaliation, but they haven’t done anything. He was losing sleep over this! Maybe they would pull something soon...Any moment they would prank him. He just needed to stay alert and aware so he could avoid it.

Doc and Iskall shared laughs when they saw Grian jumping at nothing. Their prank was going perfectly…

  
  


Or was it? Grian didn’t know a thing.


	7. Bambi Go Home (Deer!Mumbo)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by cultspina: all i want is deer hybrid mumbo, somethin like hes always known but never told cause nobody asks and everyone assues hes 100% human despite a few deer things like ears and maybe hooves nd tail? but then antlers grow and everyone goes ?????!!??!!?? and the deer boy goes "yall finally noticed??????" twould be great thank you
> 
> Answer: I love this request so much. I just love the idea of "oh no, he's human" "What about the ears and tail" "Nah, he's just a furry! He's human guys" and Mumbo just being like "...are you....FUCKING serious?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Someone gets kicked in the face. Their nose broke. Also, there's nothing wrong with Furries, but a hybrid is not a "Furry" even though they are furry. They aren't dressing up as whatever creature they are a hybrid of, so I think calling a hybrid a furry could probably even be seen as an insult because you are telling the hybrid that they look fake.
> 
> Also, no judgment here. Here's the song I was listening to as I wrote!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcm20mMk15E

He had recently cut his horns when Xisuma had approached him to invite him to Hermitcraft. He wasn’t sure how it would go, but the first meeting with everyone was great. None of them seemed to believe he was anything other than human though.

He legit even heard some of the others talking about his ears and tail and hooves before. He had facepalmed so hard that he almost gave himself a concussion. This is exactly what he heard.

* * *

False had spoken first. “So what do you think of Mumbo?”

“Bumbo is very fun to be around. I think you all will have fun with him on the server.” Keralis had said.

Jevin was next to speak. “Did you all notice that he’s got a tail? And hooves?”

Tango snorted. “He’s human. I honestly doubt he is anything BUT human.”

Jevin huffed. “That doesn’t explain the ears and tail”

Tango hummed. “He’s probably a furry.”

False made some weird sounds. “You can’t just assume that!”

Keralis was laughing and didn’t say anything about what was going on. Joe did speak up though. “Be he human or not, we shall not judge him, don’t give it a thought...Or else.” That shut everyone else up.

Keralis had to calm down. “Thank you, Jojo. No judging anyone. Alright?” False, Tango, and Jevin made sounds of agreement.

* * *

Mumbo had groaned at the thought of what happened. No matter how much he tried to make it obvious he was part deer without coming out and saying it, the only ones who believed him were Keralis and Grian. It was getting so frustrating. He regretted cutting his horns before Xisuma approached him. At least then he would have believed him. His horns got in the way of working on redstone a lot, so he kept them trimmed down. He was half tempted to leave them for a while, just to get everyone to acknowledge that he is NOT fully human. He was NOT A FUCKING FURRY.

He had been bouncing the idea around his head, but one day, instead of never doing it, in front of everyone, Grian approached him. “HEY MUMBO!” Grian shouted and tackled him. “I have a challenge for you to do!” All the other Hermits stared at them, curious.

Mumbo SIGHED and then grinned. “What is it? You know I’m not going to back down from my OWN game. Tell me the challenge and I’ll give you one in return.”

Grian took a deep breath. “Don’t cut your horns for a month.” He waited. He listened to everyone make confused sounds, except Keralis going YES.

Mumbo blinked. “Alright. Don’t preen your feathers for a month then.”

Grian whimpered a little. “...At all?”

Mumbo sighed. “You can do the basics to make sure you don’t get injured, but nothing past that.” He had forgotten for a moment that not dealing with some of the feathers could make Grian suffer.

Grian nodded. “Alright! It is a deal then! I’ll have messy wings for a while!” They shook on it and went their separate ways.

* * *

It didn’t even take a week for him to have 1 inch of his horns back. He did honestly miss having them sometimes. He made sure to take care of them though. Sure, he couldn’t cut them, but he could still take care of them and make sure they are healthy looking and strong.

It was two weeks before he ran into any of the other Hermits though. He had dove deep into building his base. Iskall had blinked and got measuring tape to his horns. They had been 3.5 inches by then. “You good Iskall?”

“Are these real?” He blinked at Mumbo’s horns.

Mumbo SIGHED. “How about you just measure them tomorrow and decide then? They grow a bit each day, after all.” Iskall blinked and nodded. It became a habit for Iskall for a couple days that each morning, he’d measure Mumbo’s horns.

“They really are real! You’re part deer? Here I thought you were fully human. Sorry bro.” Iskall rubbed the back of his head.

Mumbo sighed. “Yeah yeah...I swear, after this...the next Hermit to call me a furry is getting my hooves in their face.” 

Iskall sweat nervously a bit. “I feel sorry for them.”

* * *

A few days later, and his five and a quarter inch horns were starting to annoy him. Three weeks in. He kept getting caught on his redstone. It was annoying. He went to the shopping district, where everyone was due to some Christmas gift exchanges. He had bundled up and huffed. His ears were turning white in the cold and snow. He walked over and everyone stared at him. “Hey guys. What’s going on over here--”

Tango interrupted Mumbo. “Wait, you aren’t a furry--” 

Iskall had tried to stop Tango. “Oooh...this is gonna hurt…”

Mumbo twitched and swung his foot up and kicked Tango in the FACE with his hoof. “I AM NOT A FURRY!!!”

Tango dropped, letting out a cry of pain. OW his face. His nose was broken. Oh that's blood. He took a moment to calm and used healing potions. He set his nose and used copious amounts of instant healing so his injury went away, and then he rubbed his face. “That...is a real hoof. Man. I’m sorry Mumbo. Really. I didn’t know.” Keralis and Grian were dying of laughter as everyone started to realize and apologize to Mumbo for making assumptions.

Mumbo sighed and smiled. “It’s fine. Sorry for kicking you in the face Tango. I had just told Iskall the next person to call me a furry would get a kick in the face.”

Tango shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine man. I deserved that...Is your hair turning white?”

Mumbo snorted. “Yeah, if I don’t keep warm enough in the winter, I start turning white. Specially if there is snow. I’m kinda a freak in that aspect though, because other deer hybrids' hair and fur go darker during winter, but I guess because my hair and fur is dark all the time, I get lighter. It’s weird.”

The hermits frowned a bit at that. Keralis spoke up. “Bumbo, you aren’t a freak…”

Grian rushed over and hugged his friend. “Yeah! Besides, I like you the way you are!”

The other Hermits all agreed and said their apologies and reassurances. Xisuma rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry about not knowing, Mumbo…”

Mumbo blinked and snorted and smiled. “It’s fine...thanks...all of you...and Grian, I hate this challenge, but thank you for challenging me...I would have never got around to doing this otherwise.”

Grian waved it off. “No problem Mumbo! I saw how it was affecting you and decided to do it in a way you couldn’t back down from.”

Mumbo snorted. “You are an amazing friend…” Then they continued on exchanging gifts and talking and joking about all the times they messed up about Mumbo. Mumbo laughed so much at some of the stories about their mistakes. He was glad that they knew now.


	8. Perfect Isn't Easy (Zedaph/Tango/Impulse)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Candi_is_a_writer: Now to make another request- if i. May this one is a ship idea. Maybe a date night fail with the Zit trio- their one of my favorite ships, dosnt even have to be romantic could just be them celebrating being friends for so long- who knows but id suggest zedaph trying to plan something crazy and it fails but fails spectacularly
> 
> Answer: This actually made me go watch a few Zedaph clips to get some ideas of what to write and he is hilarious. Thank you. Here's my attempt at making a date night. Hopefully you like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There's some anxiousness, getting burned by hot food, and robot malfunction injuries.
> 
> I actually had a lot of trouble writing this until a friend gave me two songs. I listened to both songs a bit and then wrote this up, so thanks Scribs.
> 
> Song 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbQWGE4teE0  
> Song 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3BkDESKFSA

Date Night. It was Zedaph’s turn to decide what to do for their date. Problem: It was their anniversary and he wanted it to be PERFECT. He had set up a redstone robot to try and help him get the perfect dinner cooked. Everything would go great. They would have some lovely pasta or a brisket and wine and there’d be some beautiful music. He let the robot do some basic cooking as he worked to decorate and set up.

It seemed simple, though he really should have seen this coming. One second the bot was peacefully chopping the veggies, then carrot bits were flying. The bot started doing a dangerous imitation of the knife wielding tentacle. It swung it’s little arms sporadically and at an increasingly fast pace. It started to smoke a bit as its arms flailed about.

“Oh shit. Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Zedaph used a crossbow to shoot the robot down so that it was out of the way as he tried to make sure the food wouldn’t burn. “I’ve got this...I-I’ve got this! It WILL be perfect!” He took a shooky breath and let the robot die and moved it out of the way. He set the food to a simmer and then rushed to keep working on the decorations. He also tried to make some nice music to play in the background as they ate. He hummed a little as he rushed to check on the food, smelling something burning. 

He sighed as he had to throw out what had been cooking, but tripped over the downed robot and screamed a bit as he spilled the boiling food all over himself. He started to cry. Everything was going wrong and now everything hurt. He got up slowly and hiccuped, quickly taking his clothes off and getting cold water. It all hurt and he hiccuped. 

All he wanted to do was make something special for their date night...their one year, technically with Zedaph. Impulse and Tango had been together before Zedaph joined Hermitcraft, but they all hung out and enjoyed being with each other during the past few seasons. Impulse and Tango had approached Zedaph and offered to let him in on their relationship. All three of them together.

Zedaph had been so happy. Now he couldn’t help but feel like he fucked up. Everything was worried and he couldn’t...He couldn’t do anything to fix it. Impulse and Tango would be there soon and there was no way he could fix things in time. 

He trembled and hiccupped. He began to treat his burns. He then turned and kicked the robot. It reactivated and cut Zedaph a bit, as well as destroyed some of the decorations he worked so hard on. He let out a pained cry, as well as one of frustration.

Tango and Impulse shared a look as they heard Zedaph cry out. He was normally very careful. They rushed to the door and opened it, witnessing the malfunctioning bot. Tango was quick to use his trident to deactivate the bot more permanently. 

Impulse rushed over and used health potions on Zedaph. “Zede, what happened? You’re covered with burns and cuts! Oh Zedey…” He kept treating Zedaph’s injuries.

Zedaph hiccuped. “I...I t...tried to make things perfect...I really did...I...everything was fine un...until the bot malfunctioned...and then t...the food I was making burned and...and the decorations got torn up by the bot a bit…”

Tango began cleaning up and found a trigger. “What’s this for Zed?”

Zedaph sniffled a bit. “I uh...I made some music...I was...gonna start it while we were….eating...and wine and stuff...I…I’m sorry...I fucked up everything, didn’t I?”

Impulse ran his hand through Zedaph’s hair. “Now now Zedey. It’s okay. The night is still save-able.”

Tango flipped the switch and smiled as he listened to the music. “The music is amaz--” He got cut off by Zedaph's voice flowing out from the speakers he had set up for the noteblock made song. Zedaph had recorded him singing about how much he loved them, and layered it over the noteblock song. He smiled and put a hand over his head. “Oh Zed…”

Impulse smiled and made Zedaph look at him. He wiped away his tears and kissed his nose. “You did wonderful Zedey. Things happen…”

Zedaph sniffled a bit. “I wanted to make it perfect…”

Tango shook his head and gave Zedaph a kiss. “You made us a wonderful song, Zed! That’s wonderful enough...Come on...We can make some food together….and then we can watch a movie and cuddle...okay?” 

Impulse smiled and nodded in agreement. “Or, you let Tango and I cook, while you rest. You obviously had a rough time, and you’re hurt...let us look out for you…And then we can eat and watch and cuddle and snuggle...Let us love you.”

Zedaph smiled and nodded. “I...I would love that...Please.” Tango lifted Zedaph and sat him on the couch. Impulse cleaned up and gave Zedaph some new clothes. He made sure he was all bandaged and gave him a golden apple and health potions.

Tango turned Zedaph’s song on again and hummed with it as he began cooking. Impulse smiled and hummed as well and walked over to Tango and gave him a kiss. He helped cook. Zedaph smiled a bit as he watched them cook. He didn’t deserve them.

Tango and Impulse took turns focusing on the food. Whoever wasn’t, went and sat with Zedaph and gave him bunches of kisses. It caused Zedaph to giggle multiple times. 

Tango smiled. “We love you, Zed. You are amazing.”

Zedaph blushed. “You two are the amazing ones...I love you guys…”

Impulse chuckled. “We love you too, Zedey.”

When food was done, they all sat in the living room to eat and share some wine. After the food, they put in a nice, funny, romantic movie and cuddled while it played. Tango and Impulse took turns sneaking kisses in, while Zedaph was content to just stay comfy and cuddle. After a while, Zedaph fell asleep.

Tango ran his hand through Zedaph’s hair. “...Next time, we don’t let this much pressure get put on him...he was stressing so much over this…”

Impulse nodded. “Yeah. But this date was still one of the best ones we’ve had.”

Tango beamed a bit. “He made us a whole song, Impy. A whole song.”

Impulse chuckled and humed. “A whole song. It’s amazing what he can do when he puts his mind to things...just like you, Tangs.”

Tango blushed. “Aw...thanks…” He smiled and cuddled. “We should let him know that he doesn’t have to panic when things go wrong too. We aren’t gonna judge him...He was crying…”

Impulse nodded. “He wanted it perfect...and sure, it had some bumps...but this night was great...we shared great food and wine...listened to an amazing song...and watched a movie together...sounds like a perfect date night to me…”

Tango nodded. “We should let him know that when he wakes up…” Zedaph snuggled into their cuddles some more.”

Impulse nodded and cuddled close to Tango himself, pulling them both to lean onto him. Tango snuggled and closed his eyes. Sure, the couch wasn’t the best place, but they were all comfy. They drifted off to sleep, cuddling in comfort with the loves of their lives.


	9. I'll Be There (Dadsuma and xB)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Tristan_Trans: Could you do something with xB and Xisuma as like X acts as xBs dad? Like I guess the thing that could happen is its mostly secret but at one point xB says it in public ny accident? I'm ok if youndomt do it :D
> 
> Answer: You can request anything and I will write it. Besides, Xisuma is def Server Dad. I've yet to decide who Server Mom is. I think that probably switches around a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Some very sad xB, but it's all happy endings here.
> 
> By the way! Have some Chicken Fried. Its what I was listening for about 85% of writing. I'm saving the other song I was listening to during this to share with a later chapter.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk5TsrmgEj4

It wasn’t often that xB had a chance to hang out with Xisuma. Back on xB’s earlier seasons, Xisuma had more time to just hang out. Then again, back then there were less Hermits too. He was glad to have so many friends, but he missed hanging out with Xisuma.

xB guessed that’s why he joined the Resistance during the Turf War. It was a way to rebel a bit and try and get his attention. He wanted to hang out with Xisuma again. He just didn’t know how to tell him that. Xisuma was always so...good to him.

When he first joined, he had been so lost...and had recently been kicked out of his home. Xisuma took him in when he had nowhere else to go. He had been sick too. Xisuma made him rest and fed him warm soup. It had been caring and loving. He had opened up to Xisuma and he got brought with him to Season 2.

Meeting Evil Xisuma had been a shock, until Xisuma had pulled him aside and explained that Ex was his brother. Ex was just there to shake things up a bit and make things a little more exciting for the others. xB had taken some time to get used to being around him, but opened up little by little. It was like having a weird uncle.

He felt himself cry a bit. He missed Xisuma. He hadn’t seen Ex either and was starting to worry for him a bit. He hadn’t seen him since last season. He pulled his legs close to himself as he sat on his bed at the Resistance Base. He hiccupped a bit and held his legs tight.

He wanted to go over to Xisuma’s base and share dinner with him. To tell bad jokes and have Ex and Xisuma laugh at them. To watch movies and cry over nothing and be hugged. The war was over, what was stopping them from spending time together?! What was stopping Ex from coming back??! What was stopping Xisuma from being there for him?

xB stopped and let go of his legs. Maybe...Maybe he needs to reach out again. Let Xisuma know he’s still needed. He slowly got up and looked around the empty base. He was glad Grian said they could use the Resistance base as needed. It was nice to get away and think. He hesitated and grabbed his communicator. He opened a DM to Xisuma.

**xB:** Xisuma...can we talk please?

 **xB:** It is important.

 **xB:** Please?

 **xB:** I could really use someone to talk to.

It took a good 20 minutes before Xisuma responded. xB had been starting to lose hope when his phone vibrated and he instantly checked his messages.

**Xisuma:** Of course we can...in person or over DMs?

 **xB:** Dad...In Person...Please…

 **Xisuma:** Where are you?

 **xB:** Resistance Base...I couldn’t bring myself to go home, and Grian had said any of us could use the base as needed, even with the war over.

 **Xisuma:** I’m flying over now. Do you need anything before I get there?

 **xB:** ...a hug would be nice...

xB waited. He took a deep breath. He didn’t want to be a mess when Xisuma got there. He watched as Xisuma flew in. “xB What’s wrong--”

He got up and ran over, crying. He wrapped Xisuma in a tight hug. “I’ve missed you! I never get to spend time with you anymore...I’ve been feeling so lonely and stupid and…” He clung and buried his face in Xisuma’s shirt.

Xisuma wrapped his arms around xB. “Oh Bee. I’m sorry. I should have checked on you more. I just thought you had outgrown your need for my help. I’m sorry. I’m here now…” xB hiccupped and started to cry more and clung to Xisuma. “I’m here…”

They sat there for a while before xB pulled away. “Thanks for coming when I messaged…”

Xisuma smiled and ruffled xB’s hair. “Anything for you, Bee. Come on.” He stood up. “You can come over to my base for dinner. Like old times.”

xB smiled and then paused. “What about Ex? Will he be there too?”

Xisuma paused and shook his head. “He’s still working on something. I’ll send him a message though and let him know you asked for him. We’ll get your uncle Ex to visit soon.”

xB beamed and nodded. “Sounds great...So, what’s for dinner?”

Xisuma grinned a bit. “I was thinking a little bit of chicken, fried. Maybe some cold beers, if you keep it a secret that I gave you some. You’re almost old enough. One beer won’t be a big problem anyways. Especially since it is in private.”

xB rolled his eyes. “Ex would kill you if he found out. He worries about both of us more than we do.”

Xisuma snorted. “You have a point. Let’s just not tell him then. So, chicken fried, beer, maybe we can turn on a radio? Sound good?”

xB nodded and smiled. “Ooo! We could have some pie too, or cake.”

Xisuma laughed. “Yes. Of course we can. Let’s go home.” He led the way to his base, xB following him.

* * *

Xisuma smiled as he waited by the main spawn. Ex came through the portal and he led him to the shopping district. He had messaged everyone that Ex was there to visit and many of the hermits stopped by and showed off their shops to Ex and showed him on maps where their bases were, and told him about the Turf War.

xB had showed up late, and rushed over, not caring about how everyone was literally there. “Uncle Ex! I made you a gift! Dad and I worked together on it!” He held out the present and beamed more when Ex took the box.

“Oh? A gift for me from you and my brother? I bet it’s great.” Ex opened the gift and let out a small gasp. He pulled out a beautiful cloak from the box. All of the other hermits were in various states of shock trying to comprehend that xB just called Xisuma, DAD of ALL THINGS.

“I did some experimentation in Dad’s labs with Netherite and wool! We made you a cloak with a symbol and pattern to represent each one of us! Every hermit has a symbol! And it’s made of netherite so that nothing can destroy it! It was really hard to get netherite to be so silky and soft, but we managed it! Do you like it, uncle Ex?” xB’s eyes shined with hope and a bright light in his eyes.

“I love it Bee!” He wrapped an arm around xB and ruffled his hair. “You are the most annoying little squirt!!”

xB laughed. “Nooohahaha! Stop! My hair.”

Grian smiled and beamed. “Oh this is so wholesome.”

Mumbo nodded. “Those smiles? They could melt glaciers.”

“Well, this glacier is a puddle.” Doc muttered.

BDubs giggled and bounced. “Oh this is GREAT!”

Scar nodded. False and Stress beamed a bit. Cleo laughed a little. “He called X Dad in front of us…”

Keralis smirked and clapped a little. “Shashwammyvoid looks so happy!”

Xisuma was blushing a bit at how all the hermits had gushed a little at them. “Oh all of you are too much. Shoosh.” He smiled and ruffled xB’s hair too. “My son’s got every reason to be proud of his work.”

xB teared up and started crying happy tears. Xisuma shook his hands. “Wait wait wait don’t cry! Wait fuck. What did I do wrong I-” Ex started laughing at Xisuma.

xB hugged him tightly. “Thank you Dad…” Xisuma realized and hugged back and all the Hermits laughed a little and some shed tears (“It was JUST sand, BDoubleO” “Yeah right Doc” “I-” “Don’t even try it Grian.” “But Mumbo-!” “Don’t.”) at the scene. 

Xisuma proceeded to give Ex a tour with xB’s help. They spent that night together as a family. They had chicken and watched movies and then watched the stars. xB couldn’t be happier. He had a family again, and this one actually wanted him there. He had good friends too. It was perfect.


	10. Don't Leave (Dadmode Xisuma and Grian)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Scribs (Off Site Friend): Someone joins server and taunts the newest member and makes them feel like they are wasting people's time and such. Xisuma dad mode activate.
> 
> Answer: ...Poor Grian's about to suffer. So am I.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: There's taunting and a bit of degradation in this chapter, and Xisuma punches someone multiple times.
> 
> Here's the song I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsCfkxZLlys

They had invited someone new to the server, but Grian didn’t trust the man. The new guy had fangs and an impish tail. He introduced himself by the name of Wilkes. He was a visitor to the server. They were letting him stick around for a trial run before letting him stay for good. Each Hermit was getting their own day to spend with the guy and lead him around.

Grian was extremely nervous about it coming around to his turn to lead the guy around. He was the newest member of the server currently, and if they got someone new, he wouldn’t be the newest anymore. He was fine with that idea, but he didn’t know if the others would treat him any differently if they got someone new.

He took a deep breath. He could do this. Just spend some time with the potential new guy. Maybe if he hasn’t seen some of the minigames he could show him some of those. Everything would go okay! He collected plenty of food and a few potions and EXP bottles to repair armor and elytra. He was all ready for anything that could happen.

Wilkes waved and landed. “Hello...I’m Wilkes. Hey, Scar? Thanks for showing me the way.”

Scar smiled. “No problem. Anyways. I gotta get going. Grian’s great. You’ll understand after spending some time with him. Bye now.” He takes flight and off he goes.

Wilkes offered his hand. “Hello Grian. I’m Wilkes. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Grian frowned. He could hear the fake friendliness in his town, but shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you...Have you been shown all the minigames yet?”

Wilkes shook his head. “Nope. I have not.” He grinned a bit. “Your base seems a bit...lackluster. You’re new, aren’t you?”

Grian stopped. He looked to Wilkes. “I am the newest hermit, but there is nothing wrong with my base. Not all the Hermits do the same type of build.”

Wilkes grinned like he caught prey. “Oh you must be such a burden to them all. I heard you had to get someone ELSE finish your build. How pathetic…”

Grian’s face fell. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it. It was a bet! It was fair game! He opened his mouth to retort, but Wilkes was already walking away. He frowned and followed. “Look-”

Wilkes smirked. “Aren’t you going to show me around?”

Grian sighed. He could tell Xisuma about this later. At least then, this jerk wouldn’t join them. “Alright. Let’s go to the minigame district then!” He led Wilkes around.

Wilkes took a moment to look around once they got outside the town hall. He whispered to Grian. “I bet they all secretly hate you. From what I’ve heard, all you have done is cause them trouble and cause wars. How can they possibly stand you, I don’t know. You must be wasting their time with everything you do.”

Grian teared up a bit and took a small breath. “You’re wrong…” He had quietly replied.

Wilkes grinned. “Oh, you must not believe that. You sound so insecure. Your builds suck and you are just burdening these builders with your subpar building. They should kick you out and be done with you...”

Grian spun around to face Wilkes and shouted, causing other Hermits to stop. “YOU ARE WRONG!!!” He stopped. All the others were staring at him. “Guys...listen he-”

Stress shook her head. “You shouldn’t yell at people Grian…”

BDubs nodded. “Not very friendly of you, G-Man.”

Grian’s expression morphed to terror and hurt. He glanced to the other and then to Wilkes. “But...He-”

IJevin hummed. “He was nice all day with me, and with Cleo, and Jeo...Don’t try to blame this on Wilkes, Grian. That’s low, even for you.” The other Hermits all nodded in agreement.

Wilkes grinned. The other hermits couldn’t see his malicious expression. “H-How could you yell at me…?” He put on a pitiful voice, but this guy was proud of himself.

Grian trembled. They...They had to let him speak...to believe him. He wasn’t at fault...He felt out of place...nothing felt right. It was like he was falling in a void. Falling in darkness and he couldn’t breathe. “It’s not my fault!!! I...I he--” He couldn’t breathe. He stumbled. He didn’t see his friends' worried expressions. All he could think was they were going to kick him out. They were going to abandon him and they weren’t going to believe him.

Wilkes shook his head a little. He had to salvage this. “Pretending to have a panic attack is a bit low too, don’t you think?” The other hermits shifted uncomfortably. 

Xisuma paused when he saw Grian doubled over. He frowned and walked over. “What is going on over here?”

Stress paused. “We heard Grian shouting at Wilkes, and after he had been so nice, we had assumed Grian was at fault...especially since he has a small habit of accidentally starting wars…” She frowned. She was starting to think that Grian wasn’t at fault, because that terrified look on his face...his hyperventilating. He wasn’t ‘faking a panic attack.’ He was actually having one and she was just one more comment away from just punching the guy and trying to hug Grian.

Xisuma however, didn’t need any other explanation. He walked to Grian and hugged him. “Grian. Take a deep breath. Nothing’s gonna happen to you. You aren’t at fault, right? Just tell me what happened.”

Grian gasped a little and clung to Xisuma, trembling. “He...insulted my builds and...said I was...was...a burden to you all...I…He said you all should kick me out...I...I’m not...right? You...You all wouldn’t...right?” His voice was so small as he tried to calm his breathing. He couldn’t see straight.

Xisuma hushed Grian and held him for a moment. Wilkes tried to salvage the situation. “Now now. I didn’t say anything like that at all…”

Mumbo growled. “Grian is NOT a liar! And he would LIE about something serious like this!” The other hermits nodded in agreement.

Xisuma held Grian and rubbed his head. “You’re okay Grian. Do you mind giving me a moment?” Grian shook his head. “Good.” He got up and left Grian where he was for the moment. He popped his knuckles.

Wilkes swallowed and took a step backwards. “N-Now now...Let’s...be reasonable?” His voice cracked.

Xisuma snarled. “I’ll SHOW you reasonable…” He pulled his arm back and punched Wilkes so hard that the man lost a couple teeth. “How DARE you say those things to Grian! He’s been a lovely member of our group and we all have LOVED having him around. He’s made everything fun again! So don’t you DARE insinuate that he’s been anything other than a delight to have on the server with us all!” All the other hermits made sounds of agreement and started to equip their weapons, brandishing them in a threatening manner.

Wilkes looked at them all and then to Xisuma. “YOU ALL ARE PSYCOPATHS--”

Xisuma decked the guy in the face again and then kicked him. He grabbed the guy’s shirt and lifted him up, growling in the terrified man’s face, before pulling up his admin panel. “You will NEVER be coming back, and we are not. You are the one who chose to try and tear us apart and hurt our friend.” Xisuma banned Wilkes. 

He then turned and quickly hugged Grian who started sobbing. “Grian...shhh...it is okay...He won’t say anything to hurt you again...He can’t. I’ve banned him. You are okay.”

Grian sobbed and clung. “I-I-I’m just a bur-burden!” Grian trembled as he sobbed.

Xisuma frowned. “You aren’t. You’ve done so much...Take a deep breath…”

Stress sighed. “Grian, I’m sorry. I should have listened to you first…”

Jevin nodded. “I’m sorry. You aren’t a burden. I’ve loved building with you around.”

Bdubs nods. “It’s not fun if I don’t have to give you a mask of my face every other day!”

Mumbo knelt by Grian and Xisuma. “We love having you with us Grian…”

Grian sobbed and buried his face in Xisuma’s shirt. “I...I’m sorry...I’m a mess I…”

Xisuma sighed. “Grian. Shoosh. Everyone can come talk with you later.” He lifted Grian and walked through the Nether Portal, taking Grian to his base where he pulled him close and sat. “Take a deep breath Grian...Deep breaths until you feel calm, okay? Then we can talk about what happened.”

Grian nodded and took shaky breaths. It took him a long while before he was fully calm. “Sorry…for freaking out like that...I just...thought I was going to be abandoned…”

Xisuma hummed softly. “Never Grian...You’re our friend...our family. We all care for you. Remember that next time. Okay? You’re more important. Yes, he was getting a tour, but that means nothing in the long run. He hadn’t done any of the building. He hasn’t played any of the games or made any of the stories we have. He didn’t have a mayoral campaign. He didn’t start Tag 2: Electric Boogaloo. He didn’t start or win a Turf War...We honestly love your contributions to the server, Grian...Don’t doubt that we care…Now, if you’re better-” He moved to get up.

Grian’s breathing hitched and he gripped Xisuma tighter. “Plea-please don’t--Don’t leave me alone...please...I...please...I can’t...I can’t...be alone right now please…” He trembled as he clung to Xisuma.

Xisuma’s eyes softened a bit and he pulled Grian into cuddles on his bed. “I won’t go anywhere, Grian...come on...you can stay until you feel better...no matter how long that takes...It’ll be okay Grian…” 

Grian nodded and cried a little, clinging and falling asleep on Xisuma. Xisuma frowned and held Grian close as he slept. If he stayed closer to Grian for the next few days, and was a little protective and overly paranoid? No one commented on it. Grian didn’t comment on how grateful he was. Stress didn’t say anything about how she felt bad for making assumptions. Jevin didn’t express his regret either. BDubs gathered materials, went to Scar, and instantly threw himself into helping Scar with landscaping the back of Grian’s Mansion. He felt bad too. 

Xisuma did give them some food, and if he forced them to take breaks and take care of themselves while Grian was distracted, no one commented on it. If he called in Ex and had him help with running the server? No one said anything. 

Grian got a lot of attention from Xisuma, and many of the hermits who had been Resistance members also gave him attention and reassurance. Grian didn’t know what he did to earn friends like this sometimes. Xisuma was just glad when Grian started to feel better, and his normal smile and pranking self started to return.


	11. Stay With Me (Respawn Accident)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Candi_is_a_writer: request, just got up from a nap and camw up with a cute atory, ( I'll be writing it myself as well) but if a hermit died and the respawn didnt work properly so they were stuck as a ghost for a bit- chaos insures
> 
> Answer: Here it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: I used my own experiences in panic attacks and breakdowns to write how Xisuma feels, so I apologize if it triggers you somewhere. Also! Character death! That happens here! Sure, he comes back in the end, but he does still DIE so here's that warning
> 
> Here's what I listened to while writing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np02phdwrwk

Xisuma felt cold. The world had stopped. Here’s what had happened. 

* * *

A fight had broken out while he had been trying to fix a server bug. He had told everyone to not fight! Respawn wasn’t working right and he didn’t want to risk losing someone while he fixed the issue. But Doc and BDubs started arguing about something and they split off into teams and it started to go from verbal to threatening each other with weapons REAL QUICK. Xisuma glanced between his hermits and his command panels. 

He had to figure out what was wrong and fix it fast, before the fight got violent. “HEY! ENOUGH! REMINDER, RESPAWN ISN’T WORKING CORRECTLY RIGHT NOW!” He snapped at the Hermits and got back to work. The rule was, when things weren’t working right, everyone had to stop and hang out until they were fixed.

Helsknight showed up after a bit, dragging Evil Xisuma with him. He looked at everyone. “What’s going on?” Hels crossed his arms.

Ex sighed. “Probably a server problem. Respawn is down?” He looked to Xisuma.

Xisuma nodded. “Yeah, and the numbskulls keep threatening each other with weapons. I’m half tempted to GROUND them all.”

Grian snorted and xB whimpered. Mambo rolled his eyes. Keralis smiled. “Don’t worry Shashwammy. I’m sure everyone can behave long enough for you to fix respawn.”

Doc and BDub glare at each other before turning their backs. Etho sighed and Scar and Cub set up a chess board. Wels sighed and sat back, grabbing a random book to read. Joe opened a notebook and started writing some poetry while Beef and TFC went to the kitchen to make some food. Iskall and Impulse got some paper out to compare redstone and farm ideas. Jevin laid back to take a nap, and Ren joined him. Stress, False, and Cleo started to brush each other's hair and paint nails. Hypno and Tango were chatting about farms. Zedaph joined Grian and Mumbo to talk about casual stuff. Etho hesitated and then went to the girls to join them with the braiding hair and painting fingernails.

Xisuma smiled a bit. As long as nothing happened, this was actually really nice. He had to focus though. This issue wasn’t going to fix itself. Hels shrugged and joined Wels in relaxing. Ex watched over the hermits, keeping an eye on Doc and BDubs, seeing the tension between them. “Xisuma, have you found what’s wrong with the respawn yet?”

Xisuma sighed. “So far, what I can tell is that respawn won’t collect the body, but the soul gets saved? It doesn’t show what it does with the soul afterwards though. At this point, I think if someone dies, as long as I fix respawn, they should come back fine. But...I don’t want to risk it in case they don’t come back...I’ll try to fix this before anything happens.”

Ex nodded and opened his own command prompts. “I’ll see if I can help find what’s wrong…” Xisuma nodded and got back to work, not noticing Doc and Bdubs quietly shoving each other and growling softly.

Doc growled and hissed, grabbing his trident. “ENOUGH BDOUBLEO!” He pulled his arm back to throw his trident at BDubs. Problem: None of them were wearing armor, and Doc’s trident was ridiculously enchanted to be dangerous.

Ex dropped his screens and in an instant, he was moving while everyone else was frozen. The trident left Doc’s hand before he realized how HORRIBLE of an idea that was. His expression morphed to regret as BDubs watched the trident fly in horror. Ex was faster though, and took the trident to his chest. Ex staggered, crying a bit. Pain blossomed all over from his chest. He coughed up blood and started to choke a bit.

The trident went flying back to Doc. Doc dropped the trident and covered his mouth to muffle any noises he might make. BDubs reacted as Ex started to collapse to catch him. “EX! Oh nononono! This is not good! DOES ANYONE HAVE A REGEN OR A HEALTH POTION?” No one did.

Ex stared at the ceiling. Xisuma could fix this...He had faith in his brother...He could taste iron in his mouth and he coughed and choked on his own blood. He felt the darkness of death claim him, but there wasn’t light of Respawn. It was dark and cold and scary. Everything had hurt...burned, but it was so cold now. He was so cold. So cold...

* * *

Back to the present, everything was cold in his soul as Xisuma ran over, command screens still up and dropped to his knees. “XIXI! Nonononononono!” He felt his throat constrict a bit. He trembled and hiccupped. It hurt to breathe. It hurt so much. He couldn’t focus. Ex had just...His brother!! Just. DIED! “Xixi. Wake up wake up wake--” He choked and pulled Ex’s body out of BDubs arms.

The other Hermits had all stopped and were watching Xisuma. Doc took a step forward. “I’m sor--”

Xisuma turned on Doc. “DON’T FUCKING SAY SORRY! I TOLD YOU ALL MULTIPLE TIMES THAT RESPAWN WASN’T WORKING RIGHT!!” He sobbed and dropped to his knees. His chest HURT...It hurt to breathe, he couldn’t breathe! He gripped his shirt over his heart. It hurt. He pulled the body of his brother close. “Xixi…”

The hermits couldn’t do anything as they watched Xisuma scream and cry. Doc teared up and started crying a little. Doc felt horrible about this. He let his temper get to him...again! BDubs put an arm on Doc to try and reassure him. It led to Doc crying more and hugging BDubs. The other hermits all started to cry too. Sure, they hadn’t been close to Ex themselves, but Xisuma was wailing so loud and holding him close.

Xisuma couldn’t see. He held Ex close and sobbed. “Xixi please…” He couldn’t hear anything. Well, not that he couldn’t. He heard the other hermits talking. Trying to talk to him, but he wasn’t registering who was talking to him or what they were saying. All he could focus on was Ex. It hurt so much to breathe and he hiccupped. He took some gasping breaths and tried to breathe, but only ended up hyperventilating.

Ex blinked as he ‘woke up’ from the realm of darkness he had been in. He saw the Hermits, all varying levels of upset and worried and he reached out to Xisuma. “Oh brother...come on...you have a glitch to fix...stop crying over me...I’m not worth your tears…” But he wasn’t heard by anyone. All he could do was watch with teary ears as Xisuma gasped for air and sobbed, and the other hermits try to talk to his brother and cry themselves. He didn’t know they all cared so much. If he wasn’t cold from being dead, it would warm his heart. 

He had to snap him out of it somehow though. His brother had said that if he fixed respawn after someone died, it could bring them back. He didn’t want to see his brother suffer. “So...how do I get your attention, Suma…?” He paused and saw the still open command screens. He walked over and typing in some code and hit enter.

Xisuma’s sobbing stopped when he heard something click and a bucket of water get dumped on him. He jumped up and growled. “WHO-- There’s words on my command screens…” He walked to his screens and blinked. “HE’S A GHOST!” All the Hermits jumped and some dried their faces.

Doc couldn’t stop himself from crying though, which means BDubs kept trying to reassure him it was fine. Doc muttered apologies. Ex wanted to reassure them all. “Suma...do something...Hear me.”

Xisuma glanced and sighed. He hadn’t heard Ex, but Doc was honestly upset. He walked over and put a hand on Doc’s arm. “Doc...take a deep breath. I can fix this. Here, you can help me look through the command code.” He gave Doc a screen and then got to work. He kept glancing at Doc, who slowly managed to calm down.

Ex waited, watching as the hermits comforted each other and got water and food for everyone. He whimpered a bit as he watched Hels take care of his body by cleaning it up and bandaging the injuries. “Just in case. You never know. Stop looking at me!” 

Ex snorted at Hel’s reaction to everyone staring at him. “You’ve got this…”

Xisuma got a determined look on his face. “I’ve got this…” Ex stared at his brother with wide eyes. There’s...no way he heard him..right?

Doc frowned and hesitated. “Hey, Seesooma? Is the code here supposed to look all glitched?” He pointed it out as Xisuma walked over.

“hm...No. I don’t think so. Let me see if it correlates to something over here…” Xisuma scrolled on his screen and nodded. “I think you just found what’s wrong! Now I’ve just got to do some careful code correction so I don’t accidentally erase my brother.” Doc nodded and joined the other Hermits sitting and waiting. 

They all felt a bit anxious as Xisuma worked on the coding. Then there was a flash of light and Ex’s body was gone. Xisuma stared at where the body had been. “I...I think respawn is working…?” He didn’t know. Everyone just stood there, waiting.

Ex rushed in and hugged his brother. “You did good. It’s okay now, Suma…”

Xisuma started crying and clung. “Xixi…”

Ex hummed and held him tight. “You did good...and Doc, I’m not mad, nor do I blame you. It was an accident. Everyone has their moments where they lose their temper...It’s fine…” He took note of how Doc was tearing up again and he held out one arm. “Get over here.”

Doc rushed over and hugged him himself. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Ex hummed. “It’s alright...I’m fine now...Everything is okay.” He rubbed both of their backs as they clung. Hels walked over and hugged Ex from behind and he leaned his head backwards a bit. “It’s okay...Really. Hels, I’m fine.”

Hels wrapped his arms around him. “Shut up.”

Ex snorted a little and sighed. “It’ll be okay...I’m okay and so are all of you…” He pulled up a command screen to make sure nothing else was broken. He scrolled through the code and then nodded. Everything seemed in order. “Everything is okay…” If the other hermits tried to get to know him better after that, he didn’t say anything about it.


	12. It's Okay to Feel Off (Dadsuma and Etho)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by WelshKitsune: Heya ,I was wondering if I could leave a request? I was wondering if ya could do an dad Xisuma fic ,with Etho in it? Like Etho, normally does stuff himself , and doesn't like getting help, but lately he's been feeling burned out and ends up breaking down? Some fluffy comfort with dad Xisuma (and maybe some uncle Evil Xisuma ^-^) ,thank you!(also take your time and make sure to take plenty of breaks )
> 
> Answer: You are SO SWEET. So I tried my best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Etho gets a bit off feeling, but other than that, this chapter is mostly a wholesome one
> 
> Here's the song I was listening to while writing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPqq02ZZJvc

The holidays were coming around to the server again. Etho was working on multiple projects at his base and with shops. He even had a small idea that he wanted to take to Grian once he scouted out a good area to work in about maybe making a shopping area themed to the Resistance, despite the Turf War being over. Sure, the main district looked better with grass, but what if they made and terrained an island with Mycelium and other stuff? A showcase of everyone’s unique building styles.

He started scouting out and made a couple pillars in the ocean to get an idea of where they could make an island. He wanted to make the island and then bring the idea to Grian of all of them building ‘stores’ and such and developing the island together. Maybe he could convince HEP to do something similar? Maybe they could make three little islands. A HEP Island, the Resistance one, and then one where everything meshed in weird ways, like mushrooms on the grass, and flowers on the mycelium. A garden, or an amusement park or something...

Of course, flowers can’t be placed on mycelium, but they could use dirt! Or podzol! Ooo, the middle island could use podzol. He got out a book and tried to sketch out what was in his mind, but he couldn’t think...the size and shape of the island, or islands...He sighed and closed the book. Maybe if he took a walk, he’d be able to think about what to build.

He took a walk around and checked the stores and sighed. He felt off and didn’t know how to explain it. He ignored most the other hermits, not that any of them stopped to talk. He was glad they didn’t. He wasn’t sure how well he’d handle conversation. He was feeling burnt out and in need of a break.

He hesitated. He might want a break, but he has so much work to do! He can’t just stop! He has so much work to do! He hesitated and went to get supplies to start trying to build island 1. An island not too far from the Resistance base maybe? Oh! He could make a chain of islands that circle around...no that doesn’t seem right. Maybe he could take his idea near, but further away from the shopping district? 

He landed outside the mycelium base and stared. He was starting to second guess himself. That’s not normal. He ran a hand over his face. He felt exhausted and he hadn’t even done any real building yet! He took a deep and shaky breath. He stood there for a good 10 minutes, not really knowing what to do next. He felt overwhelmed. He had his base, there were the shops he both bought from and helped restock, then this new idea, and he didn’t know which direction to turn.

He trembled and shook. He...He needed to sit down. He went inside the Resistance base and collapsed onto his chair, shaking. It was too much, he was trying to not let it bug him. He didn’t register that his communicator was getting pings at first. He had been ignoring the pings all day, after all. After a few minutes of just sitting there, holding his legs close to himself, he heard a ping. He blinked and noticed that Xisuma had been spamming his DMs. He sighed and wondered what the admin wanted. He opened his messages and started reading them.

**Xisuma:** Hey Etho. I couldn’t help but notice you’re flitting about the shopping district and wanted to ask how’re you? The holidays are here and I wanted to invite you to a New Years Party that everyone’s gonna plan together.

**Xisuma:** Oh. You’re gathering supplies. You have a project in mind? Do you want any help? I’ve got a bit of free time.

**Xisuma:** You sure are using a lot of rockets. Scouting out a spot to build? Are you going to be trying to build an island like Scar and Grian did?

**Xisuma:** If you do you should take proper breaks. It’s no good if you get yourself sick.

**Xisuma:** Etho?

**Xisuma:** You aren’t responding...I get that you were flying around but...you are reading these, right?

**Xisuma:** Etho. Please respond.

**Xisuma:** Okay so, I just watched you aggressively close your notebook and go take a walk. Are you okay?

**Xisuma:** And you’re flying again.

**Xisuma:** You aren’t okay, are you?

**Xisuma:** I’m talking with Ex and then I’m coming to you.

**Xisuma:** Okay, so I talked to Ex. Where are you?

**Xisuma:** You still haven’t replied?

**Xisuma:** Oh Etho...Are you at the Resistance Base?

**Xisuma:** It’s the only place nearby that I think you’d take a moment to stop at.

**Xisuma:** I’m coming that way now.

Etho stared at the words on the screen. He frowned. He’s just been making Xisuma worry! He should send a reply and say he’s fine. He should reassure the worried admin. He froze in the middle of typing when he heard rockets and the sound of someone landing.

Xisuma walked in and saw Etho and walked over, pulling him into a tight hug. “Oh, what’s wrong Etho? You look like you haven’t slept in weeks…” He pet Etho’s hair and sat down with him on Etho’s chair.

Etho teared up and started crying. “I just...I can’t...build. There’s no...no inspiration...and designing with a build block is so frustrating and hard! I feel like I can’t do anything like this and it’s just…!”

Xisuma hummed. “Overwhelming? Like a pressure that won’t let up, making you feel terrible?” He pet Etho’s hair some more.

Etho nodded. “Yeah...I...It sounds so dumb but yeah…”

Xisuma shook his head. “It isn’t dumb. You’ve just burnt yourself out is all. You need a break. A real one. You can stay at my base if you want. Rest and such.”

Etho hesitated. “I don’t know...I don’t want to distract you or bother you…”

Ex walked in then and hummed. “It’s a good thing Xisuma is supposed to be taking a break too then! You can’t be a bother or a distraction if he’s supposed to be taking a break too. I’ll be in charge of the server for a while. I brought you both soda and sandwiches. Figured it’s better than nothing and you both would need some sustenance.”

Xisuma blushed a bit. “Thanks brother…”

Etho hummed and took the drink and food. “Thanks Ex…”

Ex rolled his eyes. “Anything for my brother and his children.”

Xisuma sputtered. “W-What?!?”

Ex snickered and flicked Xisuma’s forehead. “You care so much for your hermits, and they care for you. You worry over them so much that you even have a couple who sometimes call you dad. They are your children.”

Etho thought about that for a moment and then smiled a bit. “...So...You want to spend time with me then...Dad?”

Xisuma facepalmed. He laughed a bit and shook his head. “Yes. I want to spend time with you. We both need a break, and we can talk about anything and rest and have some fun. We should go play minigames together. That sound nice? Maybe not today, but tomorrow?”

Etho blinked and smiled a bit and nodded. “Yeah. That sounds perfect. Lets. And hey! Thank you for taking over his responsibilities, uncle Ex.”

Ex blinked and smiled. “No problem kiddo. Now go drag your dad ‘home’ so you both can rest.”

Xisuma smiled as Etho nodded and pulled Xisuma out of the Resistance base. “Let’s go, X.” Etho then took flight, with Xisuma following closely behind. 

Ex watched them fly off into the distance towards Xisuma’s base. “It’s about time…” He then got to work checking over server codes and making sure nothing was wrong. He wanted to show Xisuma he could be trusted, after all. He didn’t want to be banned again.


	13. I Need a Hero (Evil Xisuma Angst)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just something I wanted to write for fun. I've been meaning to write something focusing on Ex anyways. So this is what happened after Ex was banned and what led up to Xisuma unbanning him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There's some violence, and some near death experiences.
> 
> Here's what I listened to. It was actually part of that amazing animatic that was made called Evil's Fault.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhkfDmVvOV4

Everything was dark. He held his legs tightly and hiccuped. When Xisuma banned him, he didn’t get shoved to a different server. He didn’t know a glitch like this could happen. He got shoved into the code when he got banned. He was trapped under the void, where no one could find him. He tried everything to keep calm and sane, but floating in that void...there was nothing.

He closed his eyes and thought back...Xisuma had told him he didn’t have family one time when they were talking, and for some reason, that really hurt. He didn’t tell him that though. They hung out and laughed and had fun...as friends, like brothers. He wondered if Xisuma ever paused to think about him after banning him.

To be fair, he did deserve to be banned. He tried to destroy Xisuma’s servers so many times. He told Xisuma he wasn’t evil anymore, but he wasn’t sure if Xisuma believed him. His name might be Evil Xisuma, but he wasn’t evil anymore and it hurt to know that they didn’t trust him, but he understood.

He closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep again, where he was in another nightmare. He looked around as monochrome versions of the hermits surrounded him. They taunted him and told him he was worthless and useless. 

“I HAVE A PURPOSE! I HAVE A USE! SHUT UP!!” He held his head. He knew it was a nightmare, but there were so many voices. He wanted to give up, and fade away. He wanted to take his helmet off and die.

**_“Oh, but do you, my pitiful pawn?”_ ** A deep, echoy voice spoke. An evil, bone chilling, soul freezing voice.

“I am not a pawn, and I am NOT pitiful….Leave me ALONE! I’m not evil anymore!” Ex argued. “And I have worth! I have a purpose! I have--...I have people who care!”

**_“Then where are they? Why are you still trapped here? Face it, no one even remembers you. No one but me. But I can help you, if you let me, my little pawn…”_ ** The voice was all around him and echoing. He didn’t want to listen to this.

“I refuse to work with you. I won’t hurt them. They are nice people! I’m sure they have no clue I’m here, and that is why I’m still trapped. I’m not forgotten though! It’s a server glitch and NOT their fault that I’m stuck!” He growled at the voice.

**_“To think...that Xisuma would ban his own brother~”_ ** The voice purred at Ex.

Ex froze at that and blinked. “What...what do you mean by that?” His voice wavered with uncertainty. What did the evil voice mean by Xisuma baning his own brother?

**_“Oh? You didn’t know? You two are brothers. I stole you from your home before they gave you a name. You belonged to me, after all. You were the unfortunate one in a set of twins. You got claimed by death, and by me, while your brother got to roam free~”_ ** The voice had magic energy wrap around Ex. **_“You belong to me. Now, if you won’t do my bidding, then I’ll just have to either force you, or make a new pawn to do my work and leave you here to rot. Would you rather be free, or stay forever trapped, shunned by your only flesh and blood?”_ **

Ex teared up and shook his head. “YOU ARE LYING!!! YOU HAVE TO BE!!” He hadn’t tried to kill his family, had he? He...He wasn’t evil. He wasn’t going to give in...but...it was so tempting to accept. To be free from the prison he was stuck in. “I’m alive. I’m not…”

**_“If you are so alive, then how come it was your brother’s death that allowed you to be summoned? You were dead, and him dying in an area with Respawn allowed for some Ender magic to be used to revive you. You owe your LIFE to me, you brat. You’d still be dead if not for me. Now you WILL do as I say and prepare to kill Xisumavoid.”_ ** The voice put chains on Ex and waited for him to submit.

Ex struggled with the chains. He didn’t WANT TO. He didn’t want to hurt Xisuma. Maybe...he could get help. He broke the chains and jolted awake. He looked up out of the void. He patted himself down and found a busted communicator. He wasn’t sure if this would work...he could only pray. He needed help. He needed Xisuma.

* * *

It was a normal day on the Hermitcraft Server. Xisuma just finished helping HEP clean up the shopping district, when a ping hit every Hermit’s communicators. They all turned to Xisuma and asked what was with the bugged messages and he reassured them that he’d check it over. He then got out his communicator and opened it. He froze at what he saw.

**E̴̘̚v̴̧͋̓i̶̢͔̊l̵̢̹̾ ̵̥̒X̵͍̄í̷̖s̶͚̬̈u̷̹̎͌m̸̮͂͜â̴̜͂:** B∷𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷ (Translation: Brother)

**Ȅ̶̱v̷̹̯̽͑į̸̞̾͘l̴̝͍͆̇ ̴͉̾͝X̷̼̌i̷̛͕̓s̵̤̿ṳ̶̫̕m̸̩̱̀̍â̶̩̖̋:** i リᒷᒷ↸ ||𝙹⚍. Hᒷꖎ!¡. I'ᒲ ↸||╎リ⊣. (Trans: i need you. Help. I'm dying.)

Xisuma stared at the enchantment language. Someone called him brother and was asking for his help. In the language of the End. In the language of enchanting. In HIS language. He squinted at the username. Was...that Evil X’s name? He frowned and glanced at everyone. He was sure that most of the others were confused.

**Xisuma:** What kind of help do you need? Who are you?

**Xisuma:** Can you tell me? How is your communicator typing in that language?

He frowned as there wasn’t reply for several minutes, and all the hermits had gathered around, waiting. “Maybe this is just a prank…I can-” He then got a reply and stared at the communicator.

**E̷̗͂v̷͚̅̅i̸̡̍̈́ͅl̸̠͕̄ ̴̯̹̓̌X̵̩̿i̷͔̋̅s̵̹̃ű̷͙͊m̶̧͔̌a̵̯͒̆:** Iℸ ̣ ╎ᓭ ꖌ╎ꖎꖎ╎リ⊣ ᒲᒷ. Iℸ ̣ 'ᓭ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ!¡!¡|| ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ᒲᒷ. I⎓ i ∴𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ 𝙹ʖᒷ|| ╎ℸ ̣ , i ∴╎ꖎꖎ ꖌ╎ꖎꖎ ᒲᒷ. I ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ∴ᔑリℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 𝙹ʖᒷ|| ╎ℸ ̣. Iℸ ̣ ∴ᔑリℸ ̣ ᓭ ᒲᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⍑⚍∷ℸ ̣ ||𝙹⚍. I'ꖎꖎ ↸╎ᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ ||𝙹⚍. I'ᒲ ᓭ𝙹∷∷||, ʖ∷𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷. Iℸ ̣ 'ᓭ ᒲᒷ. E⍊╎ꖎ x╎ᓭ⚍ᒲᔑ. I'ᒲ ᓭ𝙹∷∷||. I'ꖎꖎ ↸╎ᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ ||𝙹⚍. I'ꖎꖎ ↸𝙹 ᔑリ||ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リ⊣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ꖌᒷᒷ!¡ ||𝙹⚍ ᓭᔑ⎓ᒷ. Iℸ ̣ ∴ᔑリℸ ̣ ᓭ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⊣ᒷℸ ̣ ᔑ リᒷ∴ !¡ᔑ∴リ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⍑⚍∷ℸ ̣ ||𝙹⚍...ʖ⚍ℸ ̣ i ∴𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ꖎᒷℸ ̣ ╎ℸ ̣. I⎓ i'ᒲ ⊣𝙹╎リ⊣ ↸𝙹∴リ, i'ᒲ ℸ ̣ ᔑꖌ╎リ⊣ ╎ℸ ̣ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ᒲᒷ. Y𝙹⚍'ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ᓭᔑ⎓ᒷ...ᒷ⍊ᒷリ ╎⎓ ||𝙹⚍ リᒷ⍊ᒷ∷ ⊣ᒷℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓵ⍑ᔑリᓵᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ᔑꖎꖌ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ᒲᒷ ᔑ⊣ᔑ╎リ...I'ᒲ ᓭ𝙹∷∷||...Y𝙹⚍ リᒷ⍊ᒷ∷ ᒲᒷᔑリℸ ̣ ⎓𝙹∷ ᒲᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᓭ⚍⎓⎓ᒷ∷ ᔑ⎓ℸ ̣ ᒷ∷ ||𝙹⚍ ʖᔑリリᒷ↸ ᒲᒷ, ʖ⚍ℸ ̣ i ↸╎↸...I'ᒲ ℸ ̣ ∷ᔑ!¡!¡ᒷ↸...ᔑリ↸ ╎ℸ ̣ 'ᓭ ᓵ𝙹ꖎꖎᔑ!¡ᓭ╎リ⊣.T⍑ᒷ ᓵ𝙹↸ᒷ ᔑ∷𝙹⚍リ↸ ᒲᒷ. I'ᒲ ↸||╎リ⊣...J⚍ᓭℸ ̣...ʖᒷ ᓭᔑ⎓ᒷ, ʖ∷𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷. I ꖎ𝙹⍊ᒷ ||𝙹⚍.

Ren sucked in air. “This isn’t a prank! I can understand some of this and whoever this is? They are DYING Xisuma.”

Doc nodded. “Can’t you do something? Isn’t there anything you can do? Anything at all? Is there a way we could help?”

Xisuma looked at everyone and then at the message. “For...For those of you who can’t read the message...it’s from Evil X...and here’s what it says… and I’m going to say this word for word… _‘It is killing me. It's not happy with me. If I won't obey it, it will kill me. I don't want to obey iℸ ̣. It wants me to hurt you. I'll die for you. I'm sorry, brother. It's me. Evil xisuma. I'm sorry. I'll die for you. I'll do anything to keep you safe. It wants to get a new pawn to hurt you...But i won't let iℸ ̣. If I'm going down, I'm taking it with me. You'll be safe...Even if you never get the chance to talk with me again...I'm sorry...You never meant for me to suffer after you banned me, but i did...I'm trapped...And it's collapsing. The code around me. I'm dying...Just ̣...Be safe, brother. I love you.’_ I...I’m still trying to...to comprehend...Hᒷ ꖎ𝙹⍊ᒷᓭ ᒲᒷ...? iᓭ...Iᓭ ⍑ᒷ ∷ᒷᔑꖎꖎ|| ╎リ ↸ᔑリ⊣ᒷ∷? b∷𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷? hᒷ ᓵᔑꖎꖎᒷ↸ ᒲᒷ ʖ∷𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷...I...W⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ↸𝙹 i ↸𝙹...?” Xisuma slipped into speaking Ender and shook a bit. (Trans: He loves me...? Is...Is he really in danger? Brother? He called me brother...I...What do I do...?)

Ren got a serious look. “Save him then! Don’t just stand there!”

Doc glanced around, sharing looks with a few of the other hermits, like Scar and Cub. He looked back to Xisuma. “We’ll help you fend off whatever is attacking him!”

Grian nodded. “Yeah! We’ll help! I don’t know who this Evil X person is but, we should help them!” Mumbo and Iskall nodded in agreement. Mumbo also gave Grian a quiet reminder of who Evil X is. "Oh. Well! We should still save him!"

Cleo put a hand on Xisuma. “Do what your heart tells you to, X.” False and Stress nodded. Joe put his book away. Jevin got some potions out.

Xisuma looked around and nodded. “Stay here. I’m going to dive into the code and see if anything of Evil X attached itself to me and try and find him. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He then opened his commanded windows, and jumped into the void where the code resides. 

He looked around and frowned when he found a crystal. He reached out to it and touched it, and it exploded into color and swirled around him. He heard his parents talking about...him having a brother...who died? No, who was stolen. They didn’t even get to give him his name before he was stolen. He really did have a brother? Could...Could Ex have been his brother the whole time? He HAD to find him. 

He dove through the code and found a spot that seemed off. Instead of fixing it, he grabbed it. They were coordinates in the End. He teleported to those coordinates and saw Ex floating there, limp. His helmet cracked and leaking air. He turned on his helmet and dove down to him, wrapping his arms around him and trying to take him out. It was then he noticed that he was still banned and did /unban as fast as he could. 

He wrapped his arms around him and flew out. He took him to the overworld for medical attention at Doc’s place. 

* * *

It was then they noticed something was attacking Ex’s mind while he was unconscious. He was trying to fight it. 

Cub frowned. “I am not sure what we can do about this...if he loses, I don’t think he’ll survive it.”

Xisuma grabbed Cub’s shoulders. “What can we do. Tell me we can do SOMETHING…” He was shaking a bit.

Doc hummed. “We might be able to send you into his mind, but the device we have is unstable-”

Xisuma shook his head. “Send me in NOW. I have to help him…”

Doc and Cub shared a look and made Xisuma lay down and set the machine up. Cub put a hand on Xisuma. “Be safe...and save him.”

Xisuma nodded and they sent him in. He looked around. He recognized the dreamscape. It was the prison Ex had tried to put him in. “Hello? Ex?” He saw a small path light up and he followed it.

**_“No one cares for you. You’ll either submit, die, or NEVER LEAVE! They will never come for you, you idiotic, insignificant pawn! LET ME GO! YOUR STUPID BODY IS FAILING YOU!”_ ** A green energy wrapped around Ex and gave him gashes and open cuts.

Ex sobbed a bit. “I...I won’t...give in…You’ll be brought down with me…”

Xisuma’s eyes widened. He recognized this energy. It was evil and dark, from beyond the End. He moved to Ex and began chanting. Protection. He got the energy away from Ex and then let his magic burst out to combat the green energy. 

Ex staggered and dropped, but someone was holding him. He looked up. “You...can’t be here…” He teared up a bit. “I must be about to die...I’m useless...I can’t even--”

Xisuma GROWLED. “Shut up Ex. Stay close. If I have to move, you follow me, okay? You are going to LIVE. I’m here and I’m going to save you...You did good. Let me snuff out this entity and bring you home.”

**_“HA! SNUFF ME OUT? IMPOSSIBLE!”_ **A green and black energy launched an attack at Xisuma and Ex.

Xisuma quickly cast blast protection. “You underestimate me…” He held Ex close and cast Smite, causing the entity to recoil. He then cast several spells to damage the entity before he was content. Damage a being enough, and the banish spell kills it. So he made sure this thing was significantly damaged, and then banished it. He then looked to Ex. “Hang on, okay? Doc and Cub are treating you right now...you just need to stay strong...brother…”

Ex’s eyes watered and he hugged Xisuma. “Suma...I...I’m glad...that you are my family…” He trembled. He had been alone so long.

Xisuma teared up and held him tight. “I’m sorry...you suffered so much because of me...never again. I’ll always be here for you...Xixi.” 

Ex’s eyes widened. “You…-”

Xisuma smiled. “Your name might be Evil Xisuma, but you aren’t evil. You’re my brother. You deserve a name that doesn’t hurt you. You are my Xixi…”

Ex’s eyes softened and he hugged Xisuma more. “And you are my ‘Suma…I love you...thank you for coming to get me...I don’t deserve-”

Xisuma shook his head. “You do deserve it. I love you too, bro...I need you…”

Ex relaxed in the hug. “Be there when I wake up…?”

Xisuma smiled a bit. “Of course...have sweet dreams…”

Ex nodded as Xisuma left his brother’s mind. It would probably take him a while to recover, but he has support. His brother saved him. He was so glad. There were going to be bumps in the road, but he honestly hoped he could make friends and heal from the damage that...thing had caused to him. He had a future to look forward to. He was alive and well, and moving on.


	14. How Dare You Fail at This (Deer!Mumbo pt 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by The Bee (AO3 Guest): Deer Mumbo gets stuck in a bush(or something else like red stone seeing as you said that in your deer one shot) Or rather his horns do and he can’t get out? And some hermit has to come and free him. I don’t know how he would get stuck but this has been rattling round my brain for awhile now :)
> 
> Answer: Of course you can get some. Redstone machine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mumbo gets a little hurt. Not much tho.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to while writing!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oeGhNg_AR8

Mumbo had been working on his redstone farms. That stupid challenge from Grian was still in effect for like, three days. So his horns were starting to bother him. He sighed and checked his farms and yawned. He had to be so self aware of where his horns were, or get caught in a system and stuck.

He was so jumpy and paranoid. He had no desire to get stuck. Multiple people asked him for a bit of help with their redstone, and he wasn’t going to say no. He helped Iskall in the industrial district, and then checked on some other farms. He had been doing so well in not getting stuck in any of the farms he had been working or checking on.

The irony, when it wasn’t even his own system that got him stuck. He had been helping BDubs with some redstone, and a piston had gone off when he wasn’t expecting, and he got trapped. He sighed. BDubs wouldn’t be back for a couple hours, and his communicator wasn’t nearby. Plus being stuck was uncomfortable, and it gave him a splitting headache.

“Hellooooo????! Anyone out there? Please! I need some help!” He shouted out. Mumbo didn’t want to be stuck any longer than he had to. Unfortunately for him, it seems like no one was nearby to hear him shout.

He sighed and just stood there, head at an odd angle since the piston trapped his antler. He didn’t have much to do. He looked around a bit at the redstone he had been working on and hummed. “Oh, this was supposed to make me respawn. That little shit didn’t build the thing right. No wonder I got stuck...But that means he won’t come check on me...shit…”

It...It really really was starting to hurt. That’s when he heard it. The piston was still trying to move, and his antler was jamming it. His head felt like it was splitting. There was so much pressure being put on his antler. He had been there quite a while, maybe someone was nearby now? He had to try.

He started to cry. “SOMEONE!! PLEASE HELP!! IT HURTS!!!” He couldn’t grab his communicator. It was too far. He didn’t want to have to deal with the pain of his horn cracking and snapping. It hurt so much. “PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP! MY ANTLER!!!”

He must have been extremely lucky, because very quickly, someone had removed the redstone and mined the piston to free him. He dropped, and got caught. He looked to see who caught him. His eyes met red ones. “...Tango?”

Tango nodded and helped Mumbo sit. “Are you okay Mumbo? You sounded to be in a lot of pain...Your...Your antler was caught, wasn’t it? That must have felt horrible…” He was a bit hesitant since Mumbo kicked his face.

Mumbo shook a bit and hugged Tango fast, crying in relief. “Oh thank god...That had hurt so much you have no idea…” He felt tears roll down his cheeks.

Tango blinked and slowly hugged back. “You’re okay now...To be honest, BDubs was starting to get a bit worried. He said he had set up a trap that was supposed to send you through respawn. The fact that you didn’t respawn where you two had last set your spawns, it made him worry. I’ve got your communicator…” He handed it to Mumbo. “He told me and he decided to wait, just in case while I came. I’m glad I did.”

Mumbo nodded and smiled a bit “Thank you Tango…God my head hurts...” 

Tango hummed a bit and rubbed his shoulder a bit. “No problem Mumbo. Take your time to relax for a moment. Recenter yourself and such…”

Mumbo nodded. “Alright…” He took a few minutes. He then looked at his communicator and opened up the group chat.

**Mumbo:** Dubs. Dubby. BDubs. That trap was very very clever...but it didn’t kill me. You accidentally tortured me. My antler got caught and the piston’s pressure on it kept increasing. It started to put pressure on my head and felt like I was about to die.

**BDubs:** OH GOD I AM SO SORRY! I’ll make it up to you, I swear!

**Grian:** You had BETTER! That would be like my wings getting caught in a machine! That had to HURT!

**Iskall:** If you don’t make it up to him, I swear…

Mumbo smiled a bit. “They are ridiculous.”

Tango snorted. “They care for you.”

Mumbo nodded with a soft look in his eyes. “They do. And I care for them.” He went back to messaging the group.

**Mumbo:** Guys. Don’t worry about it. He’ll make it up to me. Drop it, and meet me at my base later for movies and friendship cuddles.

**Grian:** YES!!

**Iskall:** I’ll bring the movie.

**Stress:** Can I join?

**Cleo:** Me too?

**Mumbo:** Anyone who wants to come is invited.

**False:** YES!!!

**Grian:** Yaaaaaaaay!

**BDubs:** ...Am I invited?

**Iskall:** Of course man. It was an accident.

**BDubs:** I’ll bring some food.

**Grian:** YAY!

**Mumbo:** Calm down G-Man.

**Ren:** I’ll bring some drinks!

**Etho:** Me too!

**Doc:** Is this just going to be like...80% of the server joining you all?

**Xisuma:** I’m busy.

**EvilX:** You are joining them.

**Hels:** You are working yourself hard. Let Ex worry about the Server for a bit.

**Xisuma:** ...Alright. I’ll join.

**Doc:** ...90% of the server.

**Mumbo:** I guess so. I don’t object though. We need more cuddles, and less wars.

**Doc:** To be fair, Grian starts most of those.

**Grian:** I DO NOT!

**Scar:** You totally have. Also, Jellie and I will be by your base too, Mums.

**Mumbo:** Yay! :)

Mumbo chuckled and smiled. “We should get going, Tango, if we want time to set up stuff before my base is swarmed...and thank you for just...sitting with me while I was in pain..”

Tango snorted and nodded. “No problem man...and alright then. Let’s go.” He gets up and followed Mumbo out of the build. They both took flight and went to Mumbo’s base. They got set up for everyone coming over for cuddles and movies. Mumbo paused, deciding to send one more message to the chat.

**Mumbo:** Oh and Bdubs? Next time? Make a redstone death machine that actually works. THEN I will be impressed.

 **BDubs:** Alright. Alright. I will. Sorry.


	15. I'll Give You My Lungs (Voidwalker Xisuma)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Anon (AO3 Guest): So there's the idea that goes around of Xisuma being a void walker, and therefore as he is supposed to breath the thin air of the void he can't breath the air of the overworld. Therfore his helmet works as a filter to give him breathable air. What if him and some of the other hermits are messing around and accidently break the breathing apparatus on his helmet. Leaving him in a death loop of suffocation as the other hermits try to fix it.
> 
> Answer: I will be honest? I have NO CLUE what a void walker is. I tried to do research into this and found a mob and an enchantment, both from like, modded stuff. I've seen the term, and I have no clue what it means. That being said, I went and found some fanfics to try and get a better idea (the ones I found did not explain a darn thing tho). I did my best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Repeated dying and respawning, as well as panic and crying.
> 
> It took me a long while before I found something to listen to while writing as none of the songs I found gave me the right type of inspiration. It seems I can't think unless I'm listening to music or talking to someone when it comes to writing. And this prompt was much harder to write than other prompts, so I admit, it isn't as long as I wanted it to be. I'm sorry.
> 
> That being said, I didn't give up and I'm glad I didn't! I hope you enjoy~<3
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqnOvR_QOg4

Xisuma had been working in town hall. He set his spawn nearby and was working on updating his little greenhouse office. He had brought a bee nest that he set down and smiled as his bee friends flew about and gathered pollen from the flowers he had. He smiled and clapped a little. He was glad his bee friends liked their new home. He even had a little campfire set up, unlit, that he could light temporarily whenever so they'd be calm while he got some honey.

He was just going over some server coding and paperwork when something in Cub’s room blew up and let out a pulse of energy. The energy pulse shorted out his helmet and his eyes widened when he couldn’t breathe. The filter! Damnit!! He clawed at the helmet to pull it off and tried to get it to work again. 

He couldn’t breathe and his vision started to swim. Everything burned and hurt and he started to cry. He quickly entered a command into his admin window to set Respawn to its most efficient settings. He hoped that maybe, if he did, he could manage to fix his helmet before he died too many times.

He choked as he dropped to the floor, dropping his helmet and clawing a little at his throat. Everything burned! It hurt so much and it burned. His vision faded and respawn claimed him. He gasped a bit when he respawned, but his helmet wasn’t on. Fuck! He tried to reach for it and was trembling. He couldn’t steady his hands enough to fix it and he was in so much pain. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he tried to steady his hands...Everything felt like it was on fire. It hurt so much.

He couldn’t steady his hands and dropped the helmet again and struggled to move. He couldn’t get to a place where he could breathe too, so he was just stuck in what was about to be a very slow and painful death loop. He stumbled a bit, gasping a bit. He couldn’t breathe. This was almost as bad as drowning. He grabbed his communicator, but then collapsed and respawn claimed him again.

When he woke the second time, he reached for his communicator and opened the group chat. He looked down and tried to read what was there. His vision was already swimming from the lack of breathable air.

**_Cub went off with a bang._ **

**Tango:** RIP.

 **Impulse:** F.

 **Zedaph:** F! 

**_Xisuma suffocated._ **

**Ren:** RIP.

 **Mumbo:** Was it a sand trap?

 **BDubs:** Wouldn’t have it said in a wall if it was?

 **Doc:** BDoubleO is right...and it wasn’t water, because it would have said he drowned.

 **Etho:** It wasn’t mobs either, because it would have said he was squished to death, not suffocated to death.

 **Cub:** You all have a point. I didn’t set my spawn, but I was working in my office, and Xisuma was in his when the device I was working on went boom. Maybe the explosion of what I was working on made the air not breathable near the city hall?

 **Scar:** But Jellie and I are near the city hall, and both of us are fine. Do you think Xisuma is still at city hall?

 **Cub:** I don’t think he left it. Xisuma, can you confirm?

_**Xisuma suffocated to death.** _

**Grian:** Shit.

 **Iskall:** I’m on my way to City Hall now.

 **Doc:** Me too.

Xisuma’s vision swimmed. He could feel his body shutting down again and it hurt so much. He cried a bit as respawn claimed him again. He grabbed the communicator as he woke up and tried to get it to open the keyboard.

**_Xisuma suffocated to death._ **

**Stress:** Where are you Xisuma?

 **Cleo:** X, you gotta talk to us!

 **Keralis:** Shashwammy?

 **Xisuma:** City Hall. Office. Bed.

 **Xisuma:** It’s so hard to see. My

 **Xisuma:** helmet broke. It supposed to filter air.

 **Cub:** Can you not breathe the air of the overworld?

 **Grian:** Oh shit.

 **xB:** Xisuma’s a voidwalker guys! He needs the filter in his helmet to be functional!

 **Cub:** The explosion must have sent an EMP.

 **Doc:** Iskall and I are almost there!

**_Xisuma suffocated to death._ **

**Stress:** Oh no!

 **Cleo:** I’m grabbing potions.

 **IJevin:** I’m on my way too!!

 **Joe:** I’m flying that way now.

 **TFC:** Hang in there!

Xisuma cried a bit. It hurt so much. He just kept dying and it hurt. He was half tempted to turn his own respawn off, but he knows his friends would be devastated if he did. He just hated dying over and over again. Dying alone…

That is, until Scar rushed into the room. “Xisuma! I’m here man! Jellie and I are here.” He rushed over and Jellie mewed at him and nuzzled. Scar ignored the fact that Xisuma’s helmet wasn’t on. He ran his hand through Xisuma’s hair and bit the bottom of his lip. “I don’t know anything about fixing stuff, but where’s your helmet? I can give it to Doc, Cub, and Iskall when they show up and stay with you…

Xisuma’s eyes softened a bit and he gestured to his office. He watched Scar rush over there as Jellie nuzzled him. He gasped a bit and cried. It hurt. It burned. His vision went dark again and he slipped into death again. He respawned and pet Jellie, who stayed close.

Cub was there first. He rushed over. “Oh god, Xisuma. I am so sorry!”

Iskall and Doc showed up as Scar came out of the office with the helmet. Scar passed the helmet off and went to hold Xisuma as the three of them got to work on trying to fix the helmet.

xB and Etho showed up next and rushed over to Xisuma. They both took seats next to his bed and held his hands. xB hiccuped as Etho spoke up. “We’re here...We are here for you...I...god what do we do?” None of them knew. They all cried a bit more as Respawn claimed Xisuma again and Xisuma started crying more, being unable to breath and everything started to hurt so much. They couldn’t do anything but wait as Cub, Iskall, and Doc worked.

Mumbo and Grian showed up and joined xB, Scar, and Etho in the area around their admin, trying to not cry and reassure everyone that everything would be okay. BDubs showed up and hugged the sobbing Scar. Xisuma didn’t fight off the darkness as respawn claimed him again. It hurt so much, but it was less of a hassle to just let himself get claimed by respawn.

Zedaph, Impulse, and Tango showed up, but they didn’t know what to do. Stress and False showed up and joined them all. Iskall, Doc, and Cub were a bit panicked as they worked. What if they failed? Oh god. TFC and Beef (and everyone else excluding Cleo) showed up just in time to see Xisuma get reclaimed by respawn again and come back just to instantly start suffocating again.

Cleo showing up is what saved the day. She pulled out a pickaxe and made a spot and put down water. She splashed Xisuma with water breathing and shoved him into the water. Once he was underwater, he gasped. “Oh my god Cleo! You are a genius! God it had hurt so much...”

Cleo panted. She had run all the way there after speed brewing the strongest splash potion of water breathing she could. “I was just going to bring health and regen to try and keep you okay, but then it occurred to me that water isn’t air! And it was a potion that let us breathe underwater in the first place!” All the other hermits who had been sitting around Xisuma hugged Cleo and sobbed a bit. They thanked her and calmed down. “I’ve got a ton of water breathing potions, so you can just...stay in the water until your helmet is fixed.”

Xisuma nodded and let himself sink a bit. “Thank you Cleo...It was...beginning to become too much…”

Etho rushed off and came back and dropped into the water and hugged Xisuma after splashing himself and xB with a potion. “We were so worried…”

xB dropped into the water and hugged him too. Etho had given himself and xB water breathing. “God...we need to make sure you have backup helmets.”

Xisuma nodded. “I understand. We’ll make backups. I’ll keep one in my ender chest from now on too.” 

Everyone relaxed a bit. Cleo just prepared to splash the three with potions periodically, to make sure they don’t drown. Doc, Cub, and Iskall calmed a bit and managed to fix the helmet and pass it to Xisuma. He put it on and they waited the water breathing potions out and then fixed the water pit that was made. They all dried off and gave Xisuma a hug. Cub apologized so much, but Xisuma told him it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t blame anyone, and he was so glad they all came. He was glad they didn’t judge him for what he was. They reassured him a bit and then had a day to just rest and spend time with Xisuma before returning to normal antics.


	16. What's Missing is You (Deer Mumbo Pt 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Candi_is_a_writer: We need a continuation of the last chapter, i need to see what happens at this impromptu slumber party
> 
> Answer: Here's the slumber party then! Deerbo part 3!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There's a little bit of an upset character, but that get resolved fast.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to! It is a SUPER fun mashup! I couldn't resist the urge to include a bit of the lyrics in the fic.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt2-Sp-zK1M

Mumbo and Tango laughed as they got to Mumbo’s base to start setting up a sleepover room. Mumbo cleared out space and built the dimensions of the room as Tango got to work decorating. Couches, a TV, tables, chairs, bookcases, storage, and more. 

Tango didn’t mind giving Mumbo some of his personal stuff for this either. It was going to be something fun for everyone, and maybe if it was nice enough, they’d all hang out and have sleepovers more often. He set up a fridge and a mini kitchen, a living room area, and a dining area. “What else do you think we need to set up?”

Mumbo hummed a bit. “Bathroom. For sure, and a huge bedroom.” He smiled and got to work on making the dimensions for the bedroom. Tango rolled his eyes and followed Mumbo and began to work on decorating and setting up a ton of beds. Then Mumbo made two more rooms to be two bathrooms. One for the girls, and one for the boys. 

Tango setup plumbing and lighting. He smiled a bit. Everything looked great. “For such short notice, we worked fast and we did great work. It looks amazing!”

Mumbo snorted and nodded. “Yeah! It does! I’ll get to work on making some food. Sound good?” Tango nodded and got to organizing a bit and setting the TV and DVD player up.

The first guests to show up were Grian, Scar, Iskall, and Stress. Grian blinked. “Woah! This looks great Mumbo!”

Mumbo laughed. “I had some help.”

Stress smiled. “Well, it still looks great! Want some help cooking?”

Mumbo chuckled. “I would not mind the help. Specially since I don’t know how many people are going to be showing up.”

Scar chuckled. “You did invite everyone, technically. I’ll help too.” He and Stress walked to the kitchen to help Mumbo cook.

Tango smiled. “Alright, I guess that means we get to pick the first couple movies.”

Iskall chuckled. “True. True. Well, let’s see what our options are…”

Grian grinned and bounced. “Let just put on something light and fun.”

Iskall and Grian started to quietly and playfully argue about what movies to watch. While they did that, Tango put Lion King into the dvd player and that made them stop. “We are gonna do a Disney marathon. Any objections? No? Good.” He figured Disney was light hearted enough, plus there would be at least 1 movie for each person that way, and no discrimination.

BDubs showed up at that point, looking a bit insecure, and carrying a bunch of plastic bags with snack foods. “Mumbo...I…”

Mumbo walked over and pulled him into a hug. “Glad you could make it!”

BDubs blinked and smiled, and hugged back. “Thanks for inviting me!”

Next to show up was False, Cleo, Jevin, and Joe. They had been in the shopping district together when they saw the messages in the chat. Joe smiled. “Oh, this is very homey. And it looks like we won’t be lonely. Something smells heavenly. Shall we join the celebration of eleven?” Joe hummed as he went to the kitchen. “May I assist?”

Stress giggled. “Sure! I don’t mind.”

Scar nodded. “Yeah. Let’s cook together.”

Jevin hopped over Grian and Iskall onto the couch. “So, we are watching Disney? This is gonna end up being a legit just wholesome sleepover. It’s great!”

False laughed a bit and sat on the couch too. “Yeah. It is. Ooo, and we can play games later too!”

Grian grinned. “Oh we sooo have to play truth or dare!”

Iskall rolled his eyes. “Chaos gremlin is back.”

Tango snorted as BDubs slowly joined everyone in the living room. He went to BDubs and wrapped an arm around him. “Glad you could make it man!” Bdubs relaxed a bit and laughed.

Hypno, Cub, Beef, and TFC showed up, carrying boxes with normal drinks like tea and soda. Ren, Impulse, and Zedaph rushed past them carrying what seemed to be a couple crates of alcohol. xB was following them, groaning a bit. “You all run so FAST!” Everyone stared for a moment before dissolving into giggles. The sleepover was going to become a party with everyone at that rate.

Keralis drug Xisuma there, with Etho trailing behind them. Keralis waved. “Are we late? Shashwammy kept trying to put off coming!”

Mumbo shook his head. “Nah. You are just in time! Welcome to the sleepover. It’s a shame Hels and Wels couldn’t come too, or Ex. Then the only person we’d be missing is Doc!” 

Xisuma chuckled. “If the server code didn’t need to be checked over tonight, Ex would have joined us, and we both know that Hels and Wels aren’t even on the server at the moment. They went out on a bonding trip.”

After food and a few movies, they broke off into groups. Mumbo, Grian, and BDubs joined the girls for self care and make-up. BDubs, Grian, and Mumbo’s eyes sparkled when Cleo offered to paint their nails. False offered to brush Grian’s wings and Stress offered to help Mumbo with his hair. Then they gave BDubs a  _ fabulous _ make-over.

Iskall, Grian, Zedaph, Impulse, Tango, Ren, xB, and Etho were playing twister. It was a mess at the moment, and there were many awkward positions. Ren grinned as he pressed up against Etho and xB to get into a position for his hands. 

Ren grinned mischievously, ready to cause some chaos. “Well, hello there cuties~” Etho and xB both dropped out of the game to avoid being embarrassed to death. Grian glared, almost daring Ren to do the same to him.

Xisuma laughed a bit and was just watching the twister game dissolve into chaos. Joe was sharing poems and writing. The others were either listening to Joe, or watching the chaos that was twister.

Mumbo looked around and was happy, but with everyone there...the sleepover felt like it was missing someone...Missing Doc. He shared a glance with BDubs. They excused themselves, and BDubs led Mumbo to where Doc has his base set up. They both walked up to the door, and were about to knock, when they heard soft hiccuping.

BDubs frowned and shared a glance with Mumbo before he carefully opened the door and led Mumbo to Doc’s room. “Doc?”

Doc froze. He didn’t want to be seen like this. He was vulnerable and he didn’t need to be seen. “G-Go away BDubs! Y-You are trespassing!”

Mumbo followed and walked over, sitting on the edge of Doc’s bed. “Doc. It’s okay...You do know you were invited too. We don’t want you to feel excluded...besides...the slumber party isn’t complete without you there…”

BDubs nodded. “Yeah! It felt like it was missing something, and Mumbo and I both agree that what it is missing is you!” He sat too, and slowly pulled Doc into a hug.

Doc didn’t react for a moment. Mumbo slowly gave a hug too, which caused him to slowly hug both BDubs and Mumbo. “I...You guys…”

Mumbo smiled a bit. “Come with us back to my place, Doc...join our slumber party…”

BDubs giggled. “It’s not complete without the G.O.A.T! Join us Doc!”

Doc teared up a bit and hugged them both tightly. “...Okay...just...give me a moment to regain some composure.”

BDubs nodded. “Take however long you need.”

Mumbo hummed a bit in agreement. “Yeah...and then we can get flying back. Maybe karaoke a little as we fly.”

Doc snorted a bit and hugged them both. “..Thank you…”

BDubs smiled a bit. “No problem Doc.”

After a little bit, they get flying. It is silent for a moment, until Mumbo startles BDubs and Doc, causing them to almost fall as he belts a song. “Ooooh! I wanna dance with somebody!~ I wanna feel the heat with somebody~ YEEAAAH! I wanna dance with somebody! With somebody who loves me~” He put his hand over his forehead as he flew, being a little drama queen.

BDubs rolled his eyes, but grinned chaotically. “Do it aaaaallll! Again! Do it aaaall! But this Friday Night! Do it aaaall again!~ Do it all again! But this Friday Night!” He giggled.

Doc snorted and belted out a little bit of a different song. “I feel so close to you right now~ It’s a forcefield~ I wear my heart upon my sleeve, like a big deal~” He put his hands over his heart and spun a bit.

BDubs giggled and sung a bit more. “Yeah, we danced on tabletops~ And we took too many shots~ Think we kissed, but I forgot~ Last Friday night!!!” He did a loop and a fist pump. “Yeah, we maxed our credit cards~ And got kicked out of the bar, so we hit the boulevard~ Last Friday night~”

Mumbo grinned a bit. He let himself fall a bit before shooting back up next to Doc and BDubs, scaring and startling both of them, but he gave them the softest of smiles and sung. “Oh! I wanna dance with somebody~ I wanna feel the heat with somebody~ Yeah! I wanna dance with somebody~ With somebody who loves me!~”

BDubs snorted and smiled. “Do it aaaaaalll again~”

Doc snorted a bit. “That was fun!”

Mumbo chuckled. “We made our own little mashup! Or part of one, anyways!”

BDubs snorted. “Yeah! It was fun! I don’t think we are too far now.”

Mumbo led them to his base. He led them in where they saw Grian sitting on Ren holding a feather duster as a weapon. Everyone was laughing a bit as Grian tried to assault Ren with the bundle of feathers. Doc snorted and shrugged. He grabbed a drink, and Mumbo and BDubs joined the girls again. 

Doc hesitated before going over and getting a grooming and some fingernail paint. If anyone asked though, he would growl at them and show them that he was still one of the most intimidating people on the server. A bit of pink nail polish was NOT going to change that. 

They decided to save Truth or Dare for smaller parties, but that didn’t stop them from playing Mafia...and then Clue, but without the game board. Mumbo had fun pretending to be the body one time, and Grian had too much fun pretending to be a grieving lover to his best friend. BDubs and Doc had so many problems trying to keep straight faces with the roles they had when they heard Grian pretending to wail “MY BELOVED”. Iskall, Impulse, Tango, and Zedaph couldn’t and dissolved into giggles at Grian. In the end, ironically, it was the most sleep deprived of them all that told them to wrap it up and sleep. Go Xisuma. You’ve managed once again, to be the dad of everyone. All in all? It was a great Sleepover.


	17. Let Us Help (Dadsuma and his Kids)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Galaxy_Shard: I don't know where to request this, but could you write the other hermits being protective over Xisuma. He is usually the one who helps the hermits, but when he needs help, all the hermits try to help him to repay him. Idk why he needs help, maybe he gets hurt by something... or someone? a hacker maybe?
> 
> Answer: This will be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Xisuma gets hurt in the beginning, and the bad guy gets wrecked. I also tried to borrow a bit of the Watcher concept, even though I have NO CLUE what the Watchers were. As well as borrowing the idea of Iskall having been a hitman before he joined.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f87vWCApl6E

Xisuma was in pain. A hacker was attacking the code to the server, and he had been trying to fight it off. The hacker managed to get onto the server though. He pushed through the pain that the burns from the code gave him because of his failed attempt to keep the hacker out. 

He drew his sword and rushed forward to try and fight this guy, but he had mods. He hit Xisuma back. He knocked Xisuma’s helmet off and he winced at the sudden change of how bright everything was. He made Xisuma unsteady and then punched him in the face. He then kicked the back of Xisuma’s legs, causing him to fall down. He then stepped on Xisuma’s neck.

It was that moment, when Xisuma’s friends, the other hermits, showed up. xB and Etho got angry very fast. xB punching the guy off Xisuma and using health and regen potions on him. “You okay, Xisuma?”

Etho used some ninja tools to force the hacker back. “How...DARE YOU!” He snarled at the guy who had hurt their admin.

Keralis popped his knuckles, and then got out some brass knuckles and punched the guy in the face. “You hurt Shashwammy! How dare you!”

All the other hermits got in a sword cut or a punch, but then this hacker tried to shoot Xisuma with a gun. Xisuma moved to try and protect the hermits closest to him, but they didn’t need to react in worry for Xisuma, or any of each other. Someone else reacted before the hacker could shoot.

Grian got the gun out of the guy's hand and wrapped his hands around the guy’s neck. **_“HoW dArE yOu TrY tO sHoOt OuR aDmIn!!!”_ ** His voice distorted a bit as his eyes glowed purple. He spread out huge purple shimmery wings as he snarled. He began to strangle the guy, and then punched him in the face multiple times and violently threw the guy to Iskall’s feet.

Iskall had grabbed the gun that the guy had tried to use to shoot Xisuma, and pointed it at the guy’s head, with an empty cold look in his eyes. “You fucked with the wrong server. You see? We have people here who don’t care too much for people hurting their friends and family. And I see that little symbol on your vest. I’m sure you recognize who I am now...Too late though.” He growled a bit and shot the guy’s knee. Instead of killing him, going for a more torturous shot.

Etho nodded and stabbed the guy’s arm. “Yeah...we don’t care too much for you trying to hurt our admin.”

Cleo growled and bit the guy. “Have fun with the infection you’re gonna get~”

Doc electrocuted the guy and turned to let Cub have some fun putting salt in the guy’s injuries. “Don’t FUCK with us.” Doc had snarled. All the other Hermit made it very clear in some way, they didn’t appreciate the guy trying to hurt Xisuma. Joe used potions of harming and healing on the guy, repeatedly. Jevin used a potion of poison. Many of the others either punched or kicked the guy.

Grian and Hels then shared a look. Ex wasn’t there to ban the guy, so they walked to the guy and Hels used fire to lift the guy, burning him as much as he could. Grian then pulled up a shimmering purple screen and clicked a button, throwing the guy through the weird portal that appeared and disappeared as fast as it appeared. Grian’s wings then vanished and his eyes went back to normal.

Xisuma was teary and he smiled a little bit. “You all…You didn’t need to…” He got hugged by every hermit.

“Shashwammy, we care. You always look after us. For once, let us help and look after you...Okay?” Keralis hummed a bit.

xB nodded. ”Yeah, let us help you...you’re hurt. Let’s get you bandaged up and then you should rest a bit…” Etho grabbed some healing potions from Joe and made Xisuma drink them.

Stress helped them move Xisuma. Everyone went with her to Xisuma’s base. They did some cleaning and then helped make sure Xisuma didn’t get out of bed before he was healed. 

Grian kept away from the other hermits a bit after that, but to be fair, they kept away from him too. They hadn’t expected him to be as strong as he showed he was. Iskall was a bit upset when people avoided him. They stayed at Xisuma’s base too, but they stayed in one of the areas away from the main group, waiting for Xisuma to be okay before returning to where their bases were.

Xisuma didn’t like how tense things were, so he figured, if he decided to be stubborn and not rest, he’d get them to talk to each other. He collapsed before he got too far away from his ‘prison’ where Stress and everyone fussed over him. He managed to get them to talk with Grian and Iskall, and things improved. He was glad that he could still help, even when being forced to bed rest. 

It was to the point where xB, Etho, and Grian were staying in his room at all time, and taking turns cuddling with him. He didn’t mind it though. They needed a little extra reassurance that he was fine anyways. He managed to get them all cuddling him at the same time, and then couldn’t bring himself to do anything that could potentially wake them up. They were all so precious to him. 

Stress figuratively beat into Xisuma’s head that he was important. Everyone cared for him, so he needed to take better care of himself. He needed to take more breaks and not push himself so hard all the time. She literally beat him with a pillow when telling him he needed to ask for help more often. He surrendered at that point. Enough pillow abuse.

Xisuma was glad that he had all of them. Joe with his poems, Keralis, Jevin, TFC, Beef, Doc...all of them. He was glad he started Hermitcraft and that he reached out some and to others, he let them join. 

They were all a family who didn’t care about what the others were before they joined. A dysfunctional, happy family. A crazy messed up family, like the Addams Family. It was crazy, and messed up and there were arguments and fights sometimes, but they always stuck together. 

It made him so happy that he cried sometimes. Xisuma was so happy that he had all the Hermits. Even when he got hurt and needed help, they stuck with him. He was the dad friend of the server and none of them minded that. They just wanted him to take care of himself too...to the point where when he didn’t, they formed teams to force him to rest. 

He was so lucky to have them all is what he thought as he drifted into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question by Dinolover123: What happened to the hacker guy was a big death like wow that must've hurt like a lot a looooooot.
> 
> Answer: Assuming that means you want to know what happened to the Hacker after he was thrown in a portal...
> 
> Grian used Watcher powers to send him to a different server. By what I typed, it is obvious the guy was very very injured, and if he had still been on Hermitcraft, respawned.
> 
> But Grian didn't want him to respawn after what he tried, so he sent him to a hardcore server, where there's no respawn and only permadeath.


	18. Seven Times He Mothered (Mother Spore Grian)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was an idea I asked someone else to write. Candi_is_a_writer. I loved what they wrote so much, I decided to write my own version of the times Grian was the mom, and the one time they mothered him.
> 
> Here was my prompt to them: I just got this idea, but Grian is "Mother Spore" right? Well, what if you write a thing where Grian mothers all the other members of the Resistance, and the one time they mother him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There will be various breakdowns and Injuries (Gore) here! As well as sickness!
> 
> Also, I listened to a LOT of songs for this. One for each incident, I'll even label the links! All in all, this was fun to write.  
> Etho - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njCTZXn7k7o  
> Ren - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK3TROzVRiE  
> Stress - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSLSkRP6X3U  
> xB - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDonh28AY3I  
> Doc - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ9JxDiFPWA  
> Jevin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDz45y_C630  
> Impulse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msl2fl3h59I  
> Grian - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT7rklLp1Fk
> 
> I had fun with this. Lots of fun. It was also a bit hard. I wanted to do at least 1000 words per section, so making sure I did that left me a little tired, but I'm also excited to work on some requests I've got so yay!

**_Incident One: Etho’s Breakdown_ **

Etho had been hard at work. He had been doing interior for their secret base. It was gonna be great, and the best part was, it was a _SECRET BASE_!! It was something just for them all to enjoy, at least for the moment anyways. He had been hard at work. He had an idea of a room he wanted to build for the base. He was so excited. 

He then saw what Ren had made for his room. He blinked and smiled and went over to the mooshrooms and sheep and fed them all some wheat. He was so proud of what his teammate built...but now...he was uncertain about his designs. Maybe he could work on that thing Grian asked him to. 

An Emergency Button. That was something he could manage, plus a little tune. He can do that. He did the tune and then he started the testing and worked on trying to make an ender pearl stasis machine. He sighed after another failed attempt to get the pearl to drop on the chair, and he laid on the table. 

He took a shaky breath and put his hands over his face. He tried to not cry. He was fucking up so much. He couldn’t let them down. He couldn’t! He had to get this right! Grian said they needed an emergency button, and he wasn’t wrong! If something happened, if the H.E.P. pulled something, they needed a way to assemble quickly.

He was so useless at the moment though. He hiccupped and started to cry. He took a shaky breath in and started to hyperventilate. He couldn’t even do this SIMPLE REDSTONE!! It should be easy! He shouldn’t be having so much trouble with this.

He was so lost in the spiraling thoughts in his head, he didn’t hear the sounds of fireworks going off. He didn’t notice someone coming down into the base. His hands were over his face and he was hyperventilating. He was such a screw up! He couldn’t do anything right. All he did was fuck things up for every--

His thoughts got interrupted by someone pulling him into a tight, warm hug. Someone was rubbing his back and running their hands through his hair. He slowly clung to whoever was holding him and sobbed. It was too much. Everything was too much for him at the moment.

Grian frowned. When he had showed up, he saw Etho crying. He instinctively pulled him close and started to rub his back and run his hand through his hair. He hesitated before letting his wings come into existence and wrapped them around Etho. He knew they were warm. He stayed like that for a few moments.

Etho felt something warm and soft wrap around him. It had to have been a blanket. He buried his face in what...seemed to be a red sweater. Grian. Grian was holding him. He sobbed and clung desperately to him. “G...G...Gri...Grian...I...I--”

Grian hushed him. “Shhhh...shhh...don’t talk. Just...Take a moment and breathe. It’s okay...shhhh...I’m here Etho...Shhhh shhhh...Everything will be okay…” He hesitated, and then he let his eyes glow a bit with magic and he dropped his voice an octave and started to softly sing. “ _There will come a soldier, who carries a mighty sword, he will tear your city down, oh lay oh lie oh lord~ Oh laaaaaaay oh lie~ oh laaaaaay oh lord~ He will tear, your city down, oh laaay oh lie oh lord~_ ” He rubbed Etho’s back and held him.

Etho felt his tension slowly bleed away and exhaustion from the emotional rollercoaster he had been on hit him. He closed his eyes and nuzzled a bit, relaxing. His breathing evened out. “Thank you Grian...thank you...I’m sorry I just...got overwhelmed I guess...I kept messing up on the simplest of redstone…”

Grian hummed a bit and held Etho close. “It’s okay. It can happen to anyone. If you need a break, you can take one...if something’s got you stuck, you can ask for help. We are all here for you. I am here for you. If you get stuck, I can help, but you have to let me know you need help before a breakdown happens...okay?” His tone was teasing and a bit amused.

Etho snorted, nuzzling a bit closer to Grian. “Noted. I’ll tell you next time. I’m sorry...I’m...really really tired now though...I guess that’s what happens when you have a breakdown and spiraling thoughts…”

Grian snorted a little and smiled. “Yeah...it does...Get some sleep Etho. Yes, we can sleep right here...the table is actually comfy with all the wool on it. It’s fine. Just get some rest and when we wake up, we can get back to work. Or even just drop everything when we wake up and go mess around the shopping district.”

Etho smiled. “I might be feeling a bit chaotic when we wake up...You think Scar would be too mad if we stole the diamond throne a third time?”

Grian snorted. “Oh he would lose his mind if we did…But that’s also a lot of work to take down every single diamond.”

Etho hummed a bit. “Maybe when we wake, we’ll have that level of energy though...I’m already feeling a bit chaotic…”

Grian rolled his eyes, holding Etho as he noticed him starting to drift away into sleep. “Maybe we will...maybe we won’t…” His smile softened as Etho breathed, the ninja fully asleep. Grian carefully shifted to get pillows and blankets. He made his wings vanish and he cuddled with Etho, holding him. This was his job as Mother Spore. His sporeling needed comfort, so he’d give it.

Etho was always working so hard. He deserved a break and comfort every once in a while. Whatever he wanted to do when he wakes up? Grian was gonna help him out. If it was pranks, then pranks shall be done. If it was redstone, Grian would attempt to understand the bizarre red powder for him. If it was building? Then they would build. Anything for his teammate...for his friend.

* * *

**_Incident Two: Ren’s Injury_ **

Ren had been working in the department of Ren and Dog. He was experimenting with various machines and such. He was trying to see if there was a way to return a cow into a mooshroom. The concoction he was working on exploded in his face and sent him flying.

It wasn’t the first time something exploded, for sure. He got up and coughed a bit. Just a bit of smoke. No harm done. He cleaned up the after effects of his potion exploding and then stretched a bit. Maybe he should take a break.

He went and got some bread and stew. He snuck out of the base to find a nice spot to sit and enjoy his food. He remembered Grumbot’s artificial world and flew to sit on the top of it. He watched the sun rise as he yawned and ate. He stayed up all night again working. He dipped the bread in his soup and then ate it. He finished his bread and then took a moment to enjoy the morning wind.

It was a little cold, but it was a welcome change to the warm and stuffy lab he had. He took a deep breath, the air being fresh and free. Being above ground was so much better than underground, but their base was nice in its own ways. He sipped water out of a water bottle and finished off his stew. He then got up and finished off his water.

He took off and checked on his shops in the shopping district. He retrieved own diamonds from his shops. He double checked to make sure they had enough stock and then he stored his diamonds in an ender chest. One didn’t want to take too many risks, after all. Didn't want the shop to run out of stock or to lose diamonds.

He then went back to the base. He had so much work to do in the lab of Ren and Dog! He had an idea for a device that he wanted to try making. Something to change grass to mycelium. He just had to get to work or he’d never be done…

So he started to tinker. He had made something similar when he and Grian were hippies, but it made flowers instantly grow wherever it was shot. This was a little different than that. He focused for quite some time on tinkering. Stress and Jevin had stopped by and said hi before moving on. He then finished his tinkering. Now he just had to test this bad boy!

He went over to the testing area and set up some grass blocks. He also set up a target block. He had to test range after all. He aimed for the grass blocks first and pulled the trigger on his gun like device that was supposed to change the grass. He blinked when nothing happened.

He sighed and aimed and pulled the trigger again. “Oh come on! This should at least be shooting SOMETHING out of it!” He, in frustration, pulled the trigger multiple times without checking to see why it didn’t shoot. It started to spark dangerously.

Ren paled a bit and tried to drop it and get away, but before he could react more than shock and horror, it exploded in his hands. He cried out in pain and got sent flying into a wall. He dropped to the floor, sobbing loudly in pain.

The explosion had torn open his hands and his arms. He had tried to use one arm to protect himself, and the one hand had been holding the device when it had exploded. His clothes were all torn and burn, and he was bleeding so much.

It hurt so much. He got a bit choked up and sobbed. He thinks the explosion might have even cracked his bones, and his muscles were exposed. He had all sorts of shrapnel stuck in himself too, and it hurt to breathe a little bit. He thought he heard someone moving. “Hel...help...some...someone please...help...me…” He felt himself slowly losing consciousness. He could barely hear himself when he was calling for help. No one who was in the base was gonna hear him…

He was going to die and respawn, but he had no clue what state he would be in when he respawned. He can’t even remember where his last respawn was set...he thinks it was somewhere in the shopping district. His vision blurred and something red and purple entered his vision. He heard someone speaking, but couldn’t tell who. With that, darkness claimed him.

Grian had been working on the ‘vault’ (it was just an empty room) when he heard the explosion. He had turned and frowned. He put stuff away. “Ren? Is that you blowing something up again? I swear--” 

He cut himself off. He thought he heard Ren calling for help. His wings poofed into existence and he rushed. He skid and saw the damage. He rushed to Ren and lifted him. He put Ren on a bed and let his magic flow, removing the shrapnel from Ren and slowly repairing the damage done by the explosion.

“Oh Ren...what happened?” He frowned as he let his magic flow and slowly healed Ren. He grabbed a few splash potions of healing and regen and used them by Ren. Anything to speed up his healing process and make sure he wouldn’t have scars.

Sure, he could have let respawn claim Ren and let him respawn god knows where, but Grian was worried. He didn’t know what caused the explosion, and what if it had a lasting effect on Ren somehow because he did nothing? He’d never be able to live with himself.

He sat there, waiting. Ren was fully healed now. All he had to do was wait for Ren to wake up. He folded his wings and then jolted. Right. His wings. He made them vanish and put some sunglasses, knowing his eyes would be glowing otherwise due to his magic use.

Ren groaned after a few hours. Everything was sore, but he thought Respawn took that away. He cracked open an eye and...he was still in the base? Had he managed to survive that? How? He slowly tried to sit up, but then he had hands on him pushing him down. He looked. “Grian? My man, what’s going on?”

Grian frowned. “I was so worried Ren. I heard an explosion and then...you were bleeding so much and you hadn’t been claimed by respawn...I feared the worst...you can’t worry me like that!” He slowly put a hand on Ren’s arm. “I had a bunch of healing and regen potions, but I had to get the shrapnel out of you first. What happened to leave you in a state like that?”

Ren blinked and rubbed the back of his head. “Remember the flower gun? I tried making a mushroom variant.”

Grian blinked. “Wasn’t that thing prone to getting flowers stuck in it--”

“FUCK! Of course that’s what happened. “ Ren groaned and put a hand over his face. “I tried to continue to get it to fire when it had something stuck in it, overloading it’s system and making it explode! I’m an idiot.”

Grian frowned. “You aren’t an idiot, just stubborn sometimes. You are actually brilliant. Everyone makes mistakes...even I do. I mean...just look at our ‘vault’. Ya know?”

Ren snorted. “You have a point...I’m sorry I worried ya...Mother Spore.”

Grian rolled his eyes and snorted. “You had better be. Oh! Also, you are grounded. No lab for like, a week...Please. I don’t want to see you like that again...I thought you were dead…”

Ren blinked and nodded. “I understand man. I’m sorry I worried you.”

Grian nodded, and then proceeded to make sure Ren was bandaged and made him rest for the rest of the day. Grian was half tempted to make a living quarters after that.

* * *

**_Incident Three: Stress’s Worries_ **

Stress had found the Resistance by accident. Grian had freaked out a bit and then pulled her aside and told her that she was now a part of the Resistance, and wasn’t allowed to tell anyone where their base was. She didn’t mind getting drafted. She had been feeling a bit left out, after all. It was a bit fun too. 

Grian had put her in charge of figuring out what the H.E.P. was up to. She could do that. False was a friend, and none of them knew she was a part of the Resistance yet. She got to work and it was honestly a bit fun. She felt like a spy. She spoke with the H.E.P. members, tring to get any information she could.

They figured it out pretty quick that she was trying to get information. They did give her some before realizing she could be (and was) a part of the Mycelium Resistance. She had then gone to denial whenever they asked her about the Resistance. If she was a part of it, where the base was, and things like that were asked of her.

After a particularly long day, she snuck into the Resistance and went to hide in one of the rooms that weren’t built. She held her legs closer to herself and took a deep breath. Everything was fine. She hadn’t expected this to be so... _stress_ ful, ha.

She took a deep breath. She could do this...She wouldn’t give away where the base was, and she’d get the information Grian needed to make a proper plan of combat. She got up and nodded. She’s got this!

Many days later, when she entered the shopping district, she almost went to the base without checking if someone was following her. She almost panicked and glanced around. She saw BDubs staring at her looking confused and her blood went cold. She almost led H.E.P. back to their base! 

She bit her bottom lip and thought for a moment before building a bit at her tree, to make it seem fine, and then she went to the Barge to hide. It had a lot of windows, sure...but if anyone saw her there, she could just tell them she was shopping. She was just shopping for supplies...Just shopping...Oh god. She sat down and noticed BDubs approaching. She felt her throat constrict a bit and bile rise a bit in her throat. She felt the panic increasing.

It was her luck that BDubs went away after Grian showed up to the Barge. She let out a sigh of relief. “Hey Grian...Glad to see you…” She took a few moments to breath and drink a little bit of water.

Grian blinked at Stress and quickly stocked the Barge before going to where she was sitting and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Stress sighed. “I almost led H.E.P to the base...it was a stupid move, I didn’t check to see if anyone was following me. I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful...It won’t happen again I-” She got cut off by being pulled into a hug.

Grian pet her head and nuzzled. “You have to remember that this is just a game Stress. We aren’t actually at war with anyone...no one is in any real danger. Not really. It’s just us messing around and having some fun. A couple pranks here or there...a bit of taunting...that’s it. If you ever feel uncomfortable, you can tell any of the H.E.P, and I know they’d back down. You can tell any of us, and we’d help you out. You don’t even have to be a part of our group…”

Stress relaxed a bit and smiled. “Thank you Grian. I’ll make sure I keep that in mind next time. Sorry if I worried you any. I was just worrying over nothing I guess...I forgot for a moment that this was just us all playing around to provide some entertainment for each other…”

Grian snorted and smiled. “Hey, it’s fine. I forget shit all the time. When I do, I just take a moment and remind myself that if I ever need help, help is just a few chunks away. Just a message away. And remind myself how everything’s going to be okay.”

Stress blinked and smiled. “Right...well, if you ever DO need help, message me. We can help each other. I can make cookies sometime and we can share!”

Grian beamed a bit. “Ooo. That sounds amazing. Cookies are always nice!”

Stress laughed a bit. “Thank you. Again.” She relaxed a bit and slowly got up.

Grian let go and got up and pat Stress’s head. “No problem. You looked like you needed some help, plus BDubs messaged me when he noticed that he was causing some of your worry.”

Stress blinked and frowned a bit. “I should apologize to him, and let him know what happened...Shoot...I didn’t mean to make him worry too.”

Grian smiled a bit. “Everything will be okay, Stressie. Remember that.”

Stress blinked and nodded. “Right...Right! Everything will be okay.” She nodded and smiled at Grian. She then began buying some of Grian’s stock. “I was collecting supplies for a build as an excuse, but now I have an actual idea for a pretty cool build.”

Grian smiled. “You have to show me sometime when you finish it!”

Stress smiled and nodded. “Of course. I’ll show you as soon as I finish with it. You’ll be the first to see it.” She bought a few more things.

Grian shoved some stuff to her. “Free of charge, Stressie. Alright?” He tilted his head a bit and smiled.

Stress smiled back and beamed. “Thank you Grian! I appreciate it!” She then took her stuff and took flight. She was going to build something to show her gratitude for Grian’s help. She was sure he would love it.

* * *

**_Incident Four: xB’s Exhaustion_ **

xB had been working all day trying to recruit people. He found out about the group Podzol Party that way. He sighed a bit. It seemed like everyone who was on the server either had a group, or didn’t want to participate. Then again, he understood not wanting to be part of another war. He was glad he joined though.

Hanging out with the other Resistance members was fun! Stress and baking was nice. Playing music with Ren and hanging out under the stars had been nice. Messing around with ender pearls and tridents with Etho and Impulse. Making farms with Jevin. He was happy being in the Resistance. Sure, he missed spending time with some of the H.E.P. members, but he was honestly having fun.

He yawned a bit and bought supplies. He hadn’t slept in a few days. He had so much work to do and he wasn’t going to be slowing down for a long while. He stretched a bit and then took flight. He was going to do a lot of building on his main base. 

He had worked for hours, and then he worked into the night. He didn’t even notice when the next day started. A meeting for the Resistance got called and he met up with them. Scar decided to buy mycelium. They had all flown out to the other island and farmed mycelium. He yawned and slapped his own face a bit and kept working on farming, not knowing that he was being watched by Grian.

Later, they take all the mycelium, and proceed to buy the entire diamond throne. It was glorious. They didn’t have a _REAL_ vault, but it was hilarious to have it be mildly incomplete and just...be you have to break through the wall. He was going to leave to get back to work, but Grian had told him to stay until everyone had left, so he was waiting now.

He yawned and watched Etho and Ren fly out of there. He waved to Jevin as he left. “So what did ya need, G-man?” He stretched a bit and staggered a bit. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, so…”

Grian shook his head and sighed. “Follow me, xB. Okay?” He then took flight.

xB yawned and fumbled, but took flight, following Grian. Grian took him all the way to his hobbit hole and then pulled xB inside. He made him lay down on his bed. “What…? Grian what are you…?”

Grian huffed. “You have been yawning ALL DAY...and I’ve seen you almost fall asleep while standing and I’m starting to worry for you. When was the last time you got some sleep? Honestly??”

xB looked away, blushing a bit. “Uh...like...five days ago--”

Grian instantly looked alarmed and his eyes glowed purple. “That isn’t HEALTHY xB! You could seriously hurt yourself!” He rushed over and tucked him in and fussed over him a bit. “You need to sleep-”

xB didn’t quite register that Grian’s eyes were glowing. “But I have so much work and it’s so hard to fall asleep-”

Grian pet his head. “Would it help if I sang you a song? If you are having trouble? I can also get you some warm milk, if that would help. Would it help?”

xB blinked and smiled a bit. “Okay...yeah...some warm milk would be nice...and a song…” He rubbed the back of his head. “But...please don’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

Grian’s eyes softened a bit and he kissed xB’s forehead. “Don’t worry about it. Let me get you that warm milk.” He walked away.

xB slowly put a hand to his forehead. Grian...just kissed his forehead like a parent does to their kid whom they are putting down for a nap. He didn’t understand why he did that. He brought his arm back down and got comfy. Man, he was exhausted. He smiled when Grian got back. “...You’re great G…”

Grian smiled and gave xB the milk and let him drink it. “Alright...I’ll sing you to sleep now...if you’re comfy. Are you comfy?”

xB nodded. “I am very very comfy...and very tired.”

Grian nodded and his eyes shifted to a darker glow. He softly sang, his voice deep and a bit echoy, and xB didn’t register what the song was at first. Then xB smiled as he heard exactly what the song was. “ _There will come a poet, whose weapon is his word~ He will slay you with his tongue, Oh lay oh lie oh lord~ Oh laaaay oh lie~ Oh laaaay oh lord~ He will slay you with his tongue, oh lay oh lie oh lord~_ ”

xB relaxed as he listened to Grian, closing his eyes. “Thanks Mom...You’re great…”

Grian froze and stared at xB who had fallen asleep by then. He just...called him mom...He didn’t know how to feel about that. He grabbed some stuff, and after making sure xB would be safe and could easily find him, or call, he moved and got to work on his manor. The build wouldn’t finish itself, and he has a lot of work to do.

He felt warm and fuzzy. He thought about it. He had been worrying over his team quite a bit. As soon as he started calling himself Mother Spore, he had been feeling a bit weird. He didn’t know what to think about the weird feeling before, but now he felt like this was just natural. Maybe it was because they were his friends...and he didn’t want them to suffer. 

He got a bit lost in his thoughts and took a deep breath. He was fine. The past wasn’t as important to them anyways...and they wouldn’t care about finding out about his powers...well, Xisuma might, but he was doing so good at pretending to be a normal person. Just his over worrying about his sporelings was making him be a bit reckless. He couldn’t afford to be...Maybe he was tired too. He stopped building and decided to go get some sleep himself.

* * *

**_Incident Five: Doc’s Panic_ **

Doc was the newest member to the team. Only joining after they had spent so long keeping their base’s location a secret. It had been found because Scar strip mined the ENTIRE shopping district. The determined mayoral pain. Doc had been recruited to make defenses for the base. They had called upon the Goat.

He had decided to dress up, and they commented on it being similar to Batman. That was the intention. Intimidating superhero type thing. He took a deep breath as he got to work on making the defenses. Zombie Hoglins and Evokers. He worked on the Hoglins first. It was a bit hard to work with them, but once things got going, he managed to get it set up. 

Then it was getting the Evokers to help defend the base. It had been a bit tense, but he managed to talk a few Evokers into defending the base from intruders. After building them an area they could stay when not defending against intruder, he sighed and started putting the final touches on the Hoglin trap.

He had joined the Resistance because he had been feeling a bit lonely. BDubs had moved out, and Keralis moved the entire half of the manor. He had been left alone, and so he thought joining the Resistance would be less...lonely.

But he was also used to it by that point. That wasn’t what was wrong. He had encountered Keralis and BDubs in the shopping district, and got into a very VERY heated argument with them. During the argument, BDubs had said something that made Doc run faster than anything had gotten him to move…

He rushed passed the Evokers he had talked with and into the base, gasping for breath. He pulled his mask off, and threw the communicator away from himself. He went to the corner of the base and took gasping breaths.

It had been a very bad and very heated argument. He had said some off hand comments about BDubs running away from where he had been living when BDubs had snapped at him. During their argument, BDubs had shouted that Doc was useless and a nuisance. A problem that needed to be dealt with, and soon. Worse than the creeper mobs running around, and that someone should slay him like a mob. 

He gripped his chest as he hisssssed a lot and sobbed. He started rocking a bit and tapping his fingers on his arms. He started to gnaw on his lip a bit and kept rubbing his ears on his shoulders. He tried to calm his breathing, but only managed to take some gulps of air and gasping breaths. 

They were going to hunt him down. He was going to be hurt and experimented on. Dear god. He was trembling and couldn’t calm down, hissing louder when he saw the Evokers he had spoken to, pushing himself into the corner. He bit his bottom lip more and rubbed his ear against his right shoulder, slowly rubbing his arms and rocking back and forth, hyperventilating a bit. His chest and lungs hurt.

The Evokers exchanged looks before grabbing the communicator Doc had thrown away. They clicked a random thing and sent a random spam of keys. The person they had spoken to about defense for this place, who built them a very nice place to rest, needed some help.

Grian got the message and flew over with his wings. His wings were faster than any elytra could ever be. He landed and looked to the Evokers who had the communicator. They gave it to him and pointed to Doc, before going down into their room. 

Grian sucked in a breath of air and moved very slowly. “Doc? It’s me. Grian...can I come closer? Or would you like me to stay here?”

Doc stared at Grian for a long moment, when he registered Grian had wings. “You...wings…purple...”

Grian hesitated and then nodded. “Whatever you are feeling...I promise, I can understand it if you wanted to talk about it...May I come closer?”

Doc hesitated and nodded. “Y...You can come…” He rubbed his ear against his shoulder some more and hissed slightly. 

Grian moved very slowly closer. He then slowly held out his arms and spread his wings out. “Do you want a hug? I promise you are safe with me…”

Doc looked at Grian and then to his wings. He hesitated...Weren’t purple wings the wings of a Watcher? He then looked at Grian’s eyes, and how soft and vulnerable they were. He lunged forward and hugged Grian tightly, crying into his sweater. “H-He ssssaid that that that that--!”

Grian hummed a bit and rubbed his back and wrapped his wings around him protectively. “...That…” His prompting was very soft and gentle. “If you can’t find the right words, try something else…”

Doc nodded and took a swallow of air. “...He said that...I was dangerous...that I was a nuisance...like the mobs...like creepers...that I should be slayed…”

Grian felt himself bristle at Doc saying those words. “...Who did? Was it BDubs?”

Doc nodded. “You don’t have to do anything. I get it. I scare people...I’m part creeper--”

“ **_BULLSHIT! There is NOTHING wrong with you and no one should be hurting you! You are important and a PERSON! WITH EMOTIONS!_ **” Grian’s voice was all echoy and a little distorted.

Doc smiled a bit and pat him. “Grian...it’s fine. I feel better...thank you man...I’ll keep you being a...a…”

Grian froze and looked away. “I’m nothing Doc. I am just a person…” He let his wings vanish and took a deep breath.

Doc frowned. It couldn't be healthy for Grian to be denying himself. Denying a part of who he was. There wasn’t anything he could do about it at the moment. He was still a bit of a mess...He took a deep breath. “Okay...Okay. Thank you...for coming so fast when I needed someone here…”

Grian blinked and smiled, eyes soft and full of care. “Oh course Doc. Anything for a friend.” He pat Doc’s head, blinking in surprise when Doc started purring.

Doc glared a little. “Tell. No one.” He was blushing a little at purring around Grian, but he let himself continue to purr. He felt safe. He felt better. He was glad Grian was there.

Grian nodded and smiled at Doc. “I won’t tell a soul…” Doc smiled back and sat there, holding onto the smaller man like his life depended on it.

* * *

**_Incident Six: Jevin’s Loneliness_ **

Jevin sighed. He had gotten busy in the middle of the war and had to leave the server for a bit. He didn’t want to, but he had things he needed to do. When he got back, everything about the war had been resolved. He sighed. He had fun making farms and messing around with Grian and their group.

He sighed. It was a shame that something came up. He would have loved to contribute more, but he heard that the Resistance won, so yay. He just...figured he should go back to his build but...he found himself feeling...lonely.

He didn’t really get a chance to hang out. Now that the Turf War was over, he was sure everyone would go their own ways and that would be the end of things. He felt a bit lonely at his base, even though it wasn’t even that far from the shopping district. 

Maybe that’s why he was sitting in the shopping district, just watching people go around and buy stuff and then fly off. He held himself a bit. No one was really stopping to talk to him, though he wasn’t sitting out in the middle of the road, so maybe that was why. He was sitting in the second floor of the Barge. 

He wondered where Grian was. He wanted someone to talk to...or something...He sighed a bit. He hummed a little and just watched as people flitted about. It wasn’t the worst to watch people, but it would feel better to watch them if he didn’t feel a soul crushing loneliness.

He heard fireworks and wondered if someone had come into the barge to buy things from it. He glanced around a bit and then saw Grian staring at him. “Oh uh...hey Grian...I was just...watching people...if you don’t want me loitering I can just go, or I can buy something…”

Grian blinked and walked over. “Are you alright? You sound...out of energy.”

Jevin rubbed the back of his head. “I guess I feel a bit lonely is all...You know how things came up and now that I’m back, the Turf war is over and I didn’t even really get to contribute that much to it. I didn’t even get a chance to make a bet with someone so I guess I’m feeling a bit...you know...off…” He did a small gesture with his hand.

Grian nodded and then wrapped an arm around Jevin. “Then how about you come with me? Or I go with you. We can go work on one of our builds or something. Actually! I could use your help! I have this area I want to set up a slime farm, but I don’t know what to do, and it’s not that efficient…”

Jevin blinked and smiled. “Alright. I can help with that. Lead the way.” He walked with Grian in silence, and it was already a bit better than just...sitting in silence. He was actually with Grian at the moment. They had to go through the nether, but that was fine.

Grian hummed a little. “So, how have you been? I know something came up and you had to leave for a little bit. Did things get any better?”

Jevin blinked and nodded. “Oh, things got a bit better. I had to go to a dentist. I know, it sounds a bit weird, a slime at a dentist…”

Grian shook his head. “Self care is important. If you had to go to a dentist, you had to go to one. I don’t need to know why. I’m just glad you are back and you're okay.” He smiled at Jevin and then led him to the manor. “So, they’ve been spawning around there.”

Jevin nodded and helped Grian fix up his slime farm. It still wasn’t the best, but it was better than before. “So um….was that all or…”

Grian smiled. “You could stick around if you want. I’ve got some work to do...or we can work together trying to optimize my farms...some aren’t the best, if I am honest…”

Jevin nodded and smiled. “Let’s optimize your farms. Show me what you have and let’s get to work.” 

It took them a couple days, but they managed to optimize Grian’s farms. Jevin was feeling a LOT better after spending so much time with Grian. They had talked about interests and such, and Jevin learned a lot about Grian. He smiled a bit. It was just like when they were on the G Team together. Like a sleepover. “Thank you Grian.”

Grian raised an eyebrow. “Oh? For what? I was just being a good friend. You were lonely, so I spent time with you. What’s wrong with that? Nothing. It’s normal to spend time with friends, and the others should spend more time with you. You are fun to be around!”

Jevin blinked and gave Grian a hug. “Thanks.”

Grian rolled his eyes and hugged back. “Now, didn’t you have a thing you needed to build in the holiday district?”

Jevin blinked. “Shit. Yeah, I do. Um, help?” He rubbed the back of his head.

Grian smiled and nodded. “Alright then! Lead the way.” He would keep around Jevin as long as he needed. He knew Jevin felt lonely and he didn’t want him to continue to feel that way.

Jevin smiled and led the way to the holiday district. He asked Grian to gather as many snow blocks as humanly possible. He then got to work on building his massive snowman. Grian snorted a bit and began helping Jevin gather the blocks needed and would sometimes help with placing them. Once or twice, he’d throw a snowball and pretend he didn’t do anything, or blame a snow golem. Jevin rolled his eyes and laughed a bit.

He was glad he brought Grian with him to build up the Snowman. It was better than being alone and doing it. He was also glad he helped Grian fix his farms...He was glad for Grian in general.

* * *

**_Incident Seven: Impulse’s Sickness_ **

Impulse coughed and coughed as he stumbled in the shopping district. It was the middle of the night and no one else was around. He couldn’t sleep very well with how much he was coughing, and he needed to buy some blocks. As long as he did it in the middle of the night, he wouldn’t bother anyone with his hacking coughing fits.

He decided he could check on the shops he shared too. He made sure BDubs got his cut of diamonds, and then retrieved his own diamonds from his shops. He stumbled a bit and held his head and started coughing again.

Something warm then wrapped around him and steadied him. He blinked and looked and saw Grian with huge purple wings. “Wha--”

Grian cut him off. “You’re sick. Like, really BADLY sick...you should be in bed, not wandering around the shopping district. Come on. Let’s get you someplace you can rest.”

Impulse was half tempted to argue, but Grian looked very worried and serious. He sighed and coughed. “Okay...okay...let’s go to your place…”

Grian nodded and pulled Impulse along. He then made Impulse lay down. “You stay right there. I’m going to get some medicine and some soup for you.”

Impulse nodded and sighed a bit. He waited and coughed so much. It hurt. He watched Grian come back. “So…”

Grian held up a few bottles. “Drink these. They will help you feel better.” His eyes were glowing a soft purple. 

Impulse sighed a bit and took the bottles and drank them. “And now…?”

Grian nodded, content when Impulse drank all the bottles. “You eat this soup and then get comfy, okay? You need proper rest if you want to recover.”

Impulse nodded and took the soup and slowly ate. “Thank you...for looking out for me…You’re still being Mother Spore despite the Turf War being over.”

Grian snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I am. You need to take care of yourself, or I swear, I will force care upon you.”

Impulse snorted. “You kinda are...but thanks. I’ll make sure to take care of myself better after this. Sorry. I must have worried you.” He knew Grian wasn’t a normal human, but he didn’t know what, and decided it was better if he just didn’t bring it up.

Grian blinked and nodded. “I was very worried. I was just doing a fly by and I heard you coughing up a lung...You sounded like it hurt too…” He pet Impulse’s head and kissed his forehead. “You have to be more careful, okay…?”

Impulse blinked and saw the soft look in Grian’s eyes. He smiled a bit and relaxed. “Okay...I will...sorry mom…” He yawned a bit and coughed. He shifted, but couldn’t get comfy.

Grian blinked and shifted so Impulse was laying on him. “Want me to sing a lullaby?”

Impulse nodded. “Please...I can’t seem to get myself to fall asleep...I’m so uncomfortable….”

Grian hummed and nodded. His eyes glowed a bit and his voice went deep and echoy again, not that Impulse knew this happened multiple times. Impulse just laid there, spacing out as Grian sang to him. “ _There will come a ruler, whose brow is laid in thorn~ Smeared in oil, like David’s boy~ Oh lay oh lie oh lord~ Oh laaaay oh lie~ Oh laaaay oh lord~ Smeared in oil like David’s boy~ Oh lay oh lie oh lord~ Oh laaaay oh lie~ Oh laaaay oh lord~ He will tear your city down~ Oh lay oh liiiiie ooooh~_ ”

Impulse relaxed and closed his eyes. “Whatever’s with your voice...it’s super nice and I love it...thank you…” He then nuzzled a bit and fell asleep.

Grian blinked. Whatever...was with his voice? He didn’t know what Impulse was talking about; he had just been singing a lullaby that he knew. One about the stories of three people. A soldier, a poet, and a king. He shrugged and kept humming. He knew Impulse would need a few days of care, and he was going to make sure that he got it.

When Impulse had woken up later, Grian wasn’t there, but he had shown up pretty quickly with more soup and some potions. He made Impulse stay in bed and fussed over him. He had laughed at Grian, which dissolved into coughing, but still! Grian really WAS acting like a mom. It was weird and hilarious that Mother Spore was also the mom friend of the group.

Impulse wondered faintly if any of the others ever sat down and spoke with Grian and helped him. He would have to call a meeting between them all and ask them. Grian’s done so much for them, they should do a little bit for him.

Grian was worried because Impulse had a fever and it wasn’t going down. He fussed greatly over Impulse and his eyes glowed softly the whole time, giving Impulse a slight boost in his health. Anything to make sure that he would recover quicker.

Impulse smiled a bit as he watched Grian flit about and worry. He closed his eyes and drifted back into sleep. He would be better soon enough. Grian could stop worrying about him then, and get back to building and hanging out and having fun. No more worrying.

Grian didn’t think about any of that as he worried over Impulse. When he went to sleep, he kissed his forehead again and tucked him in. “Have sweet dreams, Impulse...You’ll be okay with time…” He then went and checked his stock of medicine and got a brewing stand set up to brew some potions of health and some regen potions. 

He glanced back to Impulse and set up the stand to brew as many potions as he could manage. He set up a couple stands to do this. Once Impulse was better enough to go back to his base, he’d send him with potions, just in case. He wanted to be sure, after all.

* * *

**_Incident Eight: Oh...Oh Grian..._ **

_He was falling. The void was surrounding him and everything was dark. It was cold. Oh so cold. He reached out to two figures, standing at the edge of the island he fell off of. Where were his wings?? They were gone! He couldn’t fly! He was going to die! Die die die! Someone please HELP! He didn’t want to fall. He wanted to stay, but he also knew he couldn’t go with them. He would have to let them go one without him. He would be alone._

_Everything HURT. His wings. He still had them. THEY HURT SO MUCH. What had happened? He wasn’t even sure. He was falling. He was on the ground. He was drowning. He was flying. He didn’t know what was going on. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t…_

_Why did everything hurt so much? It all hurt. It hurt so much. Why couldn’t he breathe??? Oh right. He was falling into the void. No he wasn’t. Yes he was. He didn’t know where he was. Where was he?_

_He teared up and started crying. Everything hurt and he felt so alone. He didn’t want to be alone...He wanted...what...did he want...He wanted...to...to…_

He jolted awake and sobbed. It had been another nightmare...He wrapped his wings tightly around himself for a moment before getting up. He had to get out of his base. It was too big...too big. He...He needed to get out of there...He moved and opened his wings and took flight. He had to...find someplace safer...

He went to the shopping district, and to the Resistance base. It was smaller. More compact. Not as empty. He crawled to the back, thinking it was empty. Devoid of traps and triggers. He curled into a ball, sobbing. He wrapped his wings around himself. He held his legs against his chest and sobbed.

Both unlucky, and lucky, for him...the Evokers that Doc had spoken to were still around, and Doc had given them a way to send Doc messages. So they let him know someone was at the HQ. Doc got up and rushed over, despite having been sleeping. Who was there after all the Turf War business was over?

Doc stopped and stared at the sobbing Grian. He hesitated before sending messaged to the rest of the Resistance and then walked over to Grian. “Grian? Can I see your face?”

Grian froze and hesitated, before lifting his face, glowing marks on his face. His eyes were glowing and he was crying, wings trembling. “D...Doc? Why...Why are…?”

Doc slowly got closer and pulled Grian into a hug. “Shhhh...It’s okay Grian...I’m here...I’m here…” He ran a hand through Grian’s hair. Grian trembled and started sobbing.

Impulse then showed up. “I’m here! Where’s…” He stopped and then walked over and joined the hug. “It’s okay Grian...It’s okay...You are okay…”

Grian teared up more and cried. “You guys…”

Ren then showed up. He was tense for a second, before he pulled out a brush for wings and very gently began brushing Grian’s wings. “It’s okay man...You look a mess…” 

Stress hadn’t been far behind Ren, so she walked over and sat next to Grian and took one of his hands while he cuddle-clung to Doc and Impulse. “It’s okay Grian...It’s okay to cry…We are here for you…” Grian hiccuped and sobbed.

Jevin showed up and sat on the other side of Grian, opposite to Stress. “Take a deep breath and just let us take care of you, like you’ve done for us…” Grian hiccuped. He hadn’t expected them all to come.

xB and Etho showed up and saw Grian. They shared a look and walked over. Etho pet Grian and smiled at him. “Everything will be okay. We are here now…”

xB nodded. “We _are_ here. Just let yourself relax...let yourself cry, and let us worry about everything for once…”

Grian teared up and sobbed. “You...You all are...are the...the best in the world...I...I had the worst...worst dream...I...I had been falling...and everything hurt and I couldn’t breathe...and I did? Didn’t have wings and I just...I was so alone...so alone…”

Doc and Jevin’s expressions softened. Doc hummed a little. “Oh Grian…I’m here for you man...let me be here for you...” He smiled a bit. “You helped me feel less alone...and helped me calm down from a panic attack...Let me help…”

Jevin put a hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t alone...I promise.” He smiled a little at Grian. Grian had spent time with him when he felt alone. “You have Doc and you have me and everyone else here...You aren’t alone…”

Impulse nodded. “You took care of me when I was sick...let me help you when you can’t sleep...I can understand how hard that can be sometimes.”

Etho pet Grian’s hair a bit. “You helped me when I was feeling overwhelmed. You helped me feel like everything was going to be better. You need to take a step back and take a break…”

Ren hummed a little. “You should take care of yourself. Don’t let yourself get hurt because you wouldn’t reach out to us...let us help you man…”

Stress smiled a bit. “I worried for no reason about our game...our playful war...you helped me calm down because of that. Everything will be okay. It was just a bad dream. We are all here for you.”

xB nodded and smiled. “Yeah...we are here….”

Grian yawned a little. “You guys...I…”

xB grinned a little. “Should we sing to you this time?”

Grian blinked and shook his head. “I don’t need a song...but I won’t stop you if you want to...I...I appreciate what you all are doing…”

Etho smiled a bit. “There will come a soldier, whose weapon is his sword~”

xB grinned and hummed. “There will come a poet, whose weapon is his word~”

Impulse relaxed a bit and nodded. “There will come a ruler, whose brow is laid in thorn…”

Stress blinked. “I think I know this song.”

Ren hummed. “Me too.”

Doc nodded. “Then let’s…”

Jevin smiled a bit. “Oh lay, oh lie, oh lay, oh lord~” He sung a little.

Ren smiled. “He will tear your city down~”

Stress nuzzled a bit. “He will slay you with his tongue~”

Doc shifted so everyone could cuddle comfortably. “Smeared in oil, like David’s boy~”

Etho and xB hummed as Impulse sung. “Oh lay, oh lie, oh lay oh lord~ Oh laaaaaay oh lie, oh laaaay oh lord~”

Grian relaxed more and nuzzled. “Thank you all...so much...Thank you...just...stay with me…” They all nodded and cuddled as Grian went to sleep. They all fell asleep cuddling. Grian was so glad they didn’t judge him for his wings when he woke. They decided to turn the empty base into a residential space, in case one of them didn’t want to stay at their base alone, plus adding everyone to the Evoker guard’s contact systems, so they’d know whenever one of them came there. They also thanked the guards for informing Doc about Grian. They brushed it off. They were just doing their job.


	19. To Catch a Hunter (Deer! Mumbo pt 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Badabingbadaboom (AO3 Guest) and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (AO3 Guest): Deer!Mumbo gets caught by hybrid hunters (up to you weather he gets hurt or not) Xisuma finds out and saves him.
> 
> (Badabing's asked for Xisuma, where as Super just wanted anyone). Thank you for the requests!
> 
> Answer: Oh, oh course he's gonna get a bit hurt. Not much, but he's going to get a bit hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Injury! Angry Xisuma!
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmRhc2Dox5Q

Mumbo hadn’t known what was going on at first. He had just been gathering supplies like normal. He was getting wood and redstone for a new project he wanted to work on. He was also enjoying the fresh air. It wasn’t often he took the time to slow down and just enjoy the air.

He hadn’t been careful enough. He didn’t think any hunters could get onto the Hermitcraft server. In fact, Xisuma was excellent at keeping them away. So how they got onto the server, he will never know. They shouldn’t BE there! He was supposed to be safe.

They had weapons that could ignore the server settings. The weapons had modded enchantments on them to make them deadly, even on servers with respawn. His eyes widened in horror as one of the hunters armed an arrow and activated their crossbow.

He got shot. They shot his arm as he was reaching out to pick something up. He looked up, eyes wide in fear. He saw them, and he saw the logos on their jackets. He knew who...what they were. Hunters...Hunters of hybrids like him...like Doc and Cleo and Jevin and Grian…

He couldn’t lead them back to his friends...he couldn’t just stand there either, or they would kill him. That shot had been a warning. They wanted a chase. They wanted him to run so they could follow and have the thrill of the hunt.

There wasn’t anything else he could do. He turned away from the hunters, and he ran. He booked it as fast as he could and he did not stop or slow down. He had to get away fast enough so that he could run to Xisuma. To safety.

He heard the hunters whoop behind him. They would get a chase, and Mumbo felt fear spike through him. His adrenaline burst and he ran faster and faster, and hopped over a small ravine. He ran and ran, over a river, over a hill, past a ravine, through a forest.

He was terrified. They were following him. He could hear them chasing after him. How had he not LOST them yet? He was running so fast and dodging and weaving. He didn’t want to get shot again. He was going to die if he gets caught. He cannot get CAUGHT.

He was running and he tripped. He looked up and saw a mountain wall. SHIT. He ran into a dead end. He felt his fear build more and more as he moved to get up, but his leg was burning as he was shot with multiple arrows. “FUCK!!!”

The hunters laughed a bit and the biggest one stepped forward. “Well, freak. I hope you like the afterlife. You gave us a really good chase though. So I’ll give you this, any final requests?” He aimed his crossbow at Mumbo’s head.

Mumbo trembled. “I...Please don’t...I’ll...I’ll do anything please...I...my friends...Xisuma…” He trailed off as all the hunters laughed at him.

The big guy smirked. “Have fun being dea--” He then stopped talking.

One lanky hunter paused. “Hey man? Are you okay? Why’d you sto--OH HOLY SHIT!” The big guy’s head rolled off his body.

Xisuma moved to stand in front of Mumbo. “You are on MY SERVER...and those weapons are to KILL...So if you want to live, you’d better grovel and beg and tell me which of you shot my friend’s arm and leg.” He snarled at the hunters.

Mumbo blinked and stared with wide eyes at Xisuma. He had never seen him so angry before. He just killed a man because he had been about to kill him. He didn’t know how to feel. He settled on being relieved. “Xisuma! Oh thank god...I’m so glad you’re here…”

Xisuma glanced back to Mumbo and nodded. “Mumbo...can you close your eyes for me? Just for a little while?” He turned back to the hunters, who were trembling in fear at the man with a blood covered sword.

Mumbo nodded and closed his eyes. “My eyes are now closed Xisuma...I trust you. You’ll keep me safe.” He did trust Xisuma, with all his being.

Xisuma smiled a bit, and then turned back to the hunters and rushed them. They tried to shoot him, but he was too fast. He killed them all swiftly, and then used server commands to dump their bodies into the void in the end. 

He then gently pulled Mumbo to a river to clean them both off and he carefully pulled the arrows out. He used a healing potion on the injuries and watched as they started to heal. “You can open your eyes now Mums…”

Mumbo opened his eyes and smiled a bit. “Thank you….for saving me...I had been so scared...how did you know I needed help?” He tilted his head at Xisuma, his ears tilted too.

Xisuma smiled a bit at the cute sight of Mumbo. “As admin, I can view the vitals of the people on my server, just in case something feels off or wrong. Your heart rate was so elevated, I thought you were going to die from that alone…”

Mumbo snorted. “At least if I did, I would have respawned in the safety of my base…”

Xisuma smiled a bit and pat Mumbo before offering to carry him. “Come on. You need some rest while you heal...I’ll carry you back to your base.”

Mumbo blinked and smiled a bit. “Thank you Xisuam. I’m grateful for your help...I mean it...you are the best admin we could ask for.”

Xisuma smiled softly and lifted Mumbo. “Say that after you learn more about me, Mums.” He hummed a bit and walked.

Mumbo rolled his eyes. “I know plenty about you and your brother. It’s fine. Really. I don’t need to know your past to know you are a good person.”

Xisuma blinked and smiled. “Thank you Mumbo. I appreciate your support for me.” Mumbo nodded and yawned. He snuggled a bit as Xisuma walked on. He fell asleep. Xisuma made sure he got safely to his base and that his injuries were fully treated. Nothing touched his hermits...Nothing.


	20. Don't Forget Your Ol Shipmate (Hitman Iskall)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST? by Candi_is_a_writer: I would love to see your take on more hitman iskall- and i assume that the man was also a hitman and had a badge or something
> 
> Answer: I did my best, and included Wels a bit!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Iskall gets a bit upset, but there's nothing much here.
> 
> So, I didn't use Youtube this time to listen to music. Oh Dear. I used Soundcloud and I legit just listened to Wels singing for two hours.
> 
> https://soundcloud.com/welsknight/tracks
> 
> I love his voice.

He took a deep shuddering breath as he hid in his hitman shop. He had made it to poke a little fun at his past, and it was supposed to be a secret. It wasn’t supposed to be an actual hit shop. It was a vent project. He hadn’t expected to actually get paid for a hit.

He bit his bottom lip. Jevin took out a hit on Grian. He hesitated, but found a book and looked through it. He relaxed a bit. All he had to do was make Grian respawn and give Jevin proof that he made Grian respawn. He didn’t actually want Grian permanently dead.

He had been a bit worried for a moment. Not that many of the hermits knew he had been a hitman before he joined their server. Hermitcraft was a place someone could go to get away from things from their past that they regret. Becoming a hitman was something Iskall regretted more than anything else.

He sighed a bit and contemplated the pros and cons of just...giving Jevin his diamonds back and saying he couldn’t do it. Saying he couldn’t try. He gripped the book and sighed, putting it back into the chest and grabbed his tools. If he was going to do this, he needed to go do some training.

He went to his base and got some cows and sheep trapped in various spots, and started to practice. Bow and arrow, trident, and sword. He practiced switching them as fast as possible and then he waited for night. He took flight and practiced aerial attacks against phantoms. Once he brushed up on his fighting skills and much more confident, he took a deep breath and went back to the shopping district. 

He found a spot to sit and took a deep breath. He had to stake out his target until he had a good idea of his schedule. He watched Grian go in and out of his tower for a couple days. He took a deep breath. He could apologize after he killed him for this. He took flight.

He then went after Grian. He fired some arrows at Grian, only to have some arrows fired back. He had been a bit thrown off at Grian fighting back almost instantly. “What the-” He got a bit fed up and chased Grian as they flew around. He saw Grian go into an area that looked incomplete and thought nothing of it as he chased after him. That was when the trap went off, and he fell down and died.

When he woke up, he cursed. A trap! Grian had set a TRAP! How could he have been so stupid? He would have never been caught off guard like that back when he was doing this professionally! He sighed and messaged Grian about bringing his stuff. He begrudgingly told Grian he wouldn’t kill him if he brought his stuff to him.

Grian brought him stuff. “You aren’t gonna kill me once I give you your stuff back, right? You said you wouldn’t…” He shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to die, mainly because it still scared him.

Iskall smiled a bit. “I wouldn’t go back on my word, Grian. You won that, fair and square. You should relax a bit.” He saw something in the box Grian put down that gave Iskall an idea. He quickly put on his trousers and then a pumpkin. “But I figured like, he did order a hit, and I won’t kill you but...I can hit you right?” And then he hit Grian with the tag. Grian sputtered a bunch and sighed and then they went on their separate ways.

Iskall...was very glad Grian left so soon after that. He very quickly started shaking and crying. That had been so stressful, and he hadn’t tried to take something that seriously since before joining Hermitcraft. It hurt his soul to be reminded of that past.

He had hesitated before putting most of his stuff away and taking flight. He noticed a few Hermits had noticed him flying with nothing but his elytra. He ignored them and landed outside of Wels build and knocked.

Wels opened his door and blinked. “Iskall? What’s up?” He frowned a bit. “You...you okay? You look like you’ve been crying…” He paused and stepped aside. “Come in.”

Iskall rushed in and hiccupped a bit. He got pulled into a hug. “I...I...Wels I…”

Wels pulled him to his couch and held him. “Deep breath, and then explain.”

Iskall took a deep breath. “I built a joke hitman shop to vent a bit and someone found it and placed a hit and then I failed…”

Wels sucked in a bit of air and pat him. “Iskall. It’s fine. You’ve not been a hitman in a long time. Several servers worth of time. You don’t have to worry about that anymore…”

Iskall trembled a bit and let Wels pet his hair. “I know it’s been a long while...since I’ve been a hitman...but...I still remember...I remember…”

Wels huffed. “Shush. You don’t need to think to hard on it...And look at it this way...that day? Caused you to meet me and then we both joined Hermitcraft together.”

Iskall hesitated and then nodded. “You have a point. I...thank you.”

Wels rolled his eyes. “No problem Iskall. Now get your head out of the darkness of the past. You have friends now, and whatever happened back then? You don’t have to worry about it. Plus no one is judging you here. You could also use your skills to protect the server. Xisuma’s been having issues with some hackers…”

Iskall blinked and his expression darkened a bit. “Hackers? Oh, I can definitely help deal with them. I’ll leave a message that this place is protected...I may be retired, but I am very well known...I’ll be left alone for the most part, but me being here should deter anyone with a brain.”

Wels snorted. “I’m half tempted to take up my old title and join you in defense of our server and her admin. I could pick up my blade again.”

Iskall rolled his eyes. “Oh you silly sea dog. It’s been since before we joined Xisuma and his server since you’ve fought like a pirate or a sailor.”

Wels snorted and hummed. “Oh you have a point. I’m rusty...Maybe we can practice against each other some time for fun.”

Iskall nodded. “Sounds like a plan...and thanks for letting me come here.”

Wels hummed and nodded. “No problem. I can make food, and I’ve got alcohol.”

Iskall beamed. “You, my friend, are the best! Let’s eat dinner and drink to the past!”

Wels hummed a bit. “Still remember literally any sailing song?”

Iskall grinned and nodded. “Of course!  **_Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies~ Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain;~ For we've received orders for to sail on old England~ And we may never see you fair ladies again~ We’ll rant and roar like true British sailors!~ We’ll rant and roar all on the salt seas!~ Until we strike soundings in the channel of ol’ England~ From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues~_ ** ” He started clapping in time to the song. He remembered this old thing.

Wels chuckled and went to start cooking, gathering the ingredients. “ **_We hove our ship to with the wind from sou'west, boys~ We hove our ship to, for to make soundings clear~ Its forty-five fathoms, with a white sandy bottom~ We squared our main yard and up channel did steer!~ We’ll rant and roar like true British sailors!~ We’ll rant and roar all on the salt seas!~ Until we strike soundings in the channel of ol’ England~ From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues~_ ** ” He chopped vegetables and started to make stew.

Iskall chuckled and helped a bit. “ ** _The first land we sighted was calléd the Dodman~ Next Rame Head off Plymouth, Start, Portland and Wight;~ We sailed on by Beachy, by Fairlight and Dungeness~ And then we bore up for the South Foreland light~_ _We’ll rant and roar like true British sailors!~ We’ll rant and roar all on the salt seas!~ Until we strike soundings in the channel of ol’ England~ From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues~_ ” **Iskall started stomping a bit as he clapped with the song. **“ _Then the signal was given for the grand fleet to anchor~ And all in the Downs that night for to lie;~ Let go your shank painter, likewise your cat stopper~ Haul up your clew garnets, let tacks and sheets fly!~ We’ll rant and roar like true British sailors!~ We’ll rant and roar all on the salt seas!~ Until we strike soundings in the channel of ol’ England~ From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues~_** ” Iskall laughed a bit and smiled.

Wels laughed. “ **_Now let ev’ry man drink off his full bumper~ And let ev’ry man toss off his full glass~ We’ll sing and be jolly and drown melancholy~ and here’s to the health of every true hearted lass!~_ ** ” He clapped a bit and started to finish off cooking the stew.. “ **_We’ll rant and roar like true British sailors!~ We’ll rant and roar all on the salt seas!~ Until we strike soundings in the channel of ol’ England~ From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues~_ ** ” He grabbed a few bottles of alcohol from his cabinets as well.

Iskall smiled. “Remind me one in a while to stop by more often to sing sea shanties with ya.” He sniffed. “Plus you make a killer meal.”

Wels laughed a bit more and gave Iskall a bowl of stew and a bottle of alcohol. “Alright. I’ll make sure to remind you more often to visit your ol’ lonely friend.”

Iskall made a face. “Aw. I’m sorry man. I’ll visit more. I don’t mean to make ya lonely.”

Wells shook his head. “It’s fine man. Make friends. Bond with other people on the server. It’s good for your soul.” He hummed a bit.

Iskall snorted. “Alright. I will…” He ate and drank some liquor. He and Wels ate and drank in peace, reminiscing about the past.


	21. A Stone Garden (Medusa! xBCrafted)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Tristan_Trans: This might seem weird but um, could you do a oneshot about xB being like medusa? Like he wears a mask to hide his true face cause he doesn't want to turn his friends to stone. And like, keralis finds out after seeing him turn a sheep to stone ^-^
> 
> Answer: This wasn't weird at all, and I love it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mentions of turning to stone.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to.   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05-UlsOkgYA

xB sighed. He was having a bad day. His boyfriend had asked to see his face under his mask. He knew he should tell Keralis about what he was, but he was scared if he did, then he’d leave him because of the danger of being with him.

xB looked down. He wore a mask and hood that covered everything about his head. It had lenses on it that he could see through that people couldn’t see through. He didn’t want to take any risks. No risks. His friends and his love didn’t deserve to suffer the curse. He stood in the rain at the shopping district and let it run down his head.

He closed his eyes. Some sheep baaad at him and pushed him a little. He smiled a bit and walked through the shopping district, looking around. Ever since it got changed to grass, everything was beautiful. The Turf War had never been about the block anyways. He was glad the district was grass.

He heard a faint hissing that he ignored for the moment and took a deep breath. He just enjoyed the rain for the time being, humming to himself softly. No one else was in the district, and it was starting to get later. No one else would be showing up around this time of day. 

He looked around before taking his hood off, freeing his hair and snakes. They closed their eyes and enjoyed the rain like he was. He reached his hands up to pet his hair snakes. See, he was part gorgon, and when people look at his face, they turn to stone. He had some snakes instead of hair as well, but he had normal hair as well. 

When he couldn’t keep his hood on to hide his snakes, he had them hide in his actual hair and keep their eyes closed. He didn’t want to take any risks at all. He knew that looking at his snakes wouldn’t cause trouble. It would be losing his mask that would be the end of things.

He looked around. He hoped no one was spying on him. He would be heartbroken if Keralis had decided to follow him and saw his face. He would be devastated if his boyfriend got turned into a statue. 

He slowly took his mask off and took a deep breath, walking around a little. He kept his eyes closed and enjoyed the rain running down his face. He did this more often than he’d like to admit. Sometimes at sunset. He opened his eyes and just stood in the middle of the district, enjoying the weather.

He felt panic rise when he heard fireworks go off. SHIT! Nonono! No one could see his face. He checked himself over. SHIT! He dropped his mask somewhere. He looked around frantically. He locked eyes with a sheep and it slowly turned to stone. The sheep baaed in distress and moved what it could before getting turned fully into stone.

Then he noticed his mask. He lunged forward and put the mask on as fast as he could. He panted a bit as his snakes hissed in distress. That could have been terrible. If they had seen his face while flying and turned to stone before landing? They’d break into a thousand pieces with no hope of even TRYING to turn them back.

He then heard someone clear their throat. He turned with his mask firmly on and his heart stopped. It was Keralis. Keralis could have been turned to stone like this sheep. He trembled and gripped his shirt over his heart as it pounded. “K...Keralis?” His voice cracked.

Keralis has a worried look on his face. “Is this why you always say you can’t take your mask off? Because you’re part gorgon…”

xB felt bile rise in his throat. This was it. This is where Keralis dumps in and runs away. He’ll tell Xisuma to get rid of him and that will be it. “Y...Yeah…”

Keralis slowly walked forward and hugged him. “Oh Sweet Face...It’s okay...I don’t need to see your face to know I love you…”

xB felt his heart skip a beat. His snakes looked at Keralis and gave him kisses. “Y...You don...t? You aren’t gonna run or get someone to kill me?”

Keralis blinked. “Why would I do that? You’re my boyfriend! Though I may ask our resident scientists to see if they can make something to allow you to walk around without that mask on all the time. Maybe they can find a way to break that silly curse! I love you. I’m not gonna leave you…”

xB hiccupped and clung. “I...I thought--~ I thought the moment you found out...you’d dump me and then get Xisuma to get me off the server...to leave me for the wolves to tear apart…” He cried a bit and his snakes nuzzled both him and Keralis.

Keralis frowned and shook his head. “I love you, Bee. I’m not gonna dump you for something out of your control. I promise, and I’ll be more careful too! So that we can do things together, like enjoying the weather and stuff! I could get a blindfold!” He smiled at his lovely boyfriend and pet his snakes. “Also, your snakes are adorable.”

xB blushed and so did his snakes. He smiled a bit and hugged Keralis. “Thank you babe. I needed that reassurance...I love you so much too...I’d do anything for you.”

Keralis smiled and hugged xB close. “I love you too, sweetheart, and don’t forget it. I’d do anything for you as well. Maybe I could talk with Cub and Scar about their Vex Magic…”

xB shook his head. “Do not join the vex just because you wanna see my face, or I swear, I will murder them multiple times.”

Keralis grinned a bit. “But you wouldn’t turn them to statues?”

xB snorted. “I wouldn’t do that to any of my friends. It’s...not a comfortable thing...if someone gets turned half to stone? They suffer a lot...I can only imagine how much suffering they go through as a full statue…”

Keralis blinked and nuzzled. “It traumatized you, didn’t it?”

xB whimpered and nodded. “I had been so young...and so terrified.”

Keralis hummed a bit. “Well, you never have to worry like that again. We can just let everyone know when you feel comfortable enough to tell them about why you wear the mask…”

xB looked at his boyfriend. “You honestly think they wouldn’t judge me?”

Keralis nodded. “I honestly think so.” 

xB smiled and held Keralis’s hands. “Thank you babe...Let’s go home and get some sleep.” His snakes made happy purr like sounds.

Keralis laughed a little and nodded. “Let’s go home then.” He led the way, taking flight with rockets. He and xB went home and cuddled, going to sleep as the sun set lower and lower.


	22. Give Me a Chance (BDubs/Doc)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Foop: Also ps, request for bdoc perhaps? Ive got nothing specific I'll take literally anything Im starving for content-
> 
> Answer: Well here! Have a date night after years of pinning and misunderstanding interactions, only for the end of the urf War to bring it all to a head and burst!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Doc almost explodes, so he got super emotional. Be prepared.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZQ3O8vZjXI

Doc was a bit nervous. He didn’t get the chance to talk with BDubs often. He had a slight crush on the man. He wanted to ask the man out on a date, but he could never catch up with the guy. He thought that joining the Turf War would get him the chance, but BDubs had been hovering around the mayor during that entire time. 

He got a bit bitter. Scar had all of BDubs attention, while he couldn’t even get one SHRED of his attention. He should have known that him feeling like that was building up to something, and not something good. He should have tried to take some time to relax before entering the shopping district after the Resistance won.

The H.E.P. had been cleaning up, and Doc saw BDubs laughing with Scar. Something in him broke a little. BDubs was happier with Scar than he would ever be with him. He then felt a burning rage. He saw red. He didn’t know what got into him.

**_HISSSSSSSSS!!!_ **

That caused everyone to jump. Doc was super loud and his hands were balled into fists. He was shaking and glowing a little like a creeper about to explode. Everyone gave Doc worried looks, except BDubs. BDubs looked a bit scared, and that’s what made Doc stop before he advanced towards Scar.

Doc blinked and stared and his expression fell as his one organic eye teared up. He bit his bottom lip so hard he tasted blood and he turned and took flight before he could start crying in front of everyone. He didn’t want to see him have a breakdown, but he didn’t even get far.

He flew face first into the Barge. He stumbled a bit and he heard someone approach him. He whipped around and snarled a bit, crying a little as well. His expression immediately morphed to regret when he saw it was BDubs who had approached him. “BDubs...I…”

BDubs frowned a bit. “Are you alright Doc? You face planted pretty hard…”

Doc glanced to the other hermits and scoffed. “I’m fine. Jusssst tesssting you all!” He winced a bit as he hissed. He knew he was distressed and this wasn’t helping. “I’m jusssst...gonna leave…” BDubs’ eyes softened a bit and he reached out a bit, but Doc reacted before BDubs could move anymore.

With tears in his eye, he took flight and went back to his base. He went to the pink room BDubs built for him and sat on the bed, holding his legs close to himself. He choked a little as he sobbed. BDubs would be so much happier with Scar. What was he thinking, planning a whole nice thing to invite BDubs to? What was he thinking, planning an impromptu picnic date under the stars…? He started laughing as he cried and buried his face in his pillows. He felt like an idiot. He should just leave him alone…

BDubs had followed Doc, and watched him have a breakdown. He frowned. He hated that the half creeper seemed to be overworking himself. He looked around for something to give him a clue as to what Doc was working on. Maybe if he helped him out a bit, he’d relax a bit.

BDubs blinked when he found a journal and opened it. He tried not to squeak. He found Doc’s diary, and the page he happened to turn to, was one of the pages Doc drew BDubs on, with a bunch of hearts. He blinked and flipped the pages and put a hand over his mouth. He could see the dissolve in will.

Doc thought he liked Scar! That he was dating Scar and would be happier without him. He frowned and then got an idea. He rushed off and then sent messages to everyone, asking them to not skip the night with the server’s bed commands. 

He then set up and took a deep breath and knocked on Doc’s door. “Doc? Ya in there? I’d like to talk to you, if it isn’t too much trouble!”

Doc hesitated. He was a mess. He put on a sheep head and went down. “Yeah? What’s up, BDubs? Sorry about earlier in the shopping district...I must have startled you.” He had sent various messages to everyone who had seen, reassuring them he was fine.

BDubs blinked at the sheep head and sighed and smiled. “I’d like you to come with me! I set up a surprised I’d like you to see.” He ignored the setting sun.

Doc blinked and tilted his head, noticing that BDubs wasn’t going to bed to skip the night. “O...kay? Lead the way then...?”

BDubs smiled and led Doc to the area he had been wanting to take BDubs to. BDubs smiled at Doc and showed he had food and a bottle of wine. There were candles and a blanket or five. “I uh...set up a picnic under the stars for us…”

Doc frowned and looked at BDubs. “Why…?”

BDubs rubbed the back of his head. “I found your diary and--”

Doc whimpered. “You what?!” He had written about his crush in there! Oh no oh no! BDubs was gonna-- He blinked and frowned. “Why lead me here then…?”

BDubs hesitated and blushed before walking over and taking Doc’s hands. “Would you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?” He was soft and a bit nervous. “I’ve liked you for a while now, and didn’t know how to express that and so I--”

Doc pulled BDubs instantly in for a kiss and then hugged him close. “Yes. Yes I’d love to be your boyfriend…But what about--?”

BDubs chuckled and flicked Doc’s forehead. “Don’t jump to conclusions about my love life next time, you silly goof. Scar was never my boyfriend. He’s my best friend, yes, but not my boyfriend. He’s kinda got this thing going on with Cub and Ren anyways where they flirt with various hermits and see who can make hermits turn red the fastest.”

Doc blinked and hummed. “I’ve been a victim to that multiple times.”

BDubs snorted and huffed. “I know right! So annoying!” He hesitated before putting a music disc into a jukebox and held out his hand to Doc. “Dance with me?”

Doc blinked and smiled softly. “Of course I will…” He took BDubs hand, pulled him close, and they danced under the moon and stars. They enjoyed some wine, and dinner, and cuddled under the beautiful night sky, watching shooting stars. BDubs eyes had been so big. He was always skipping the night, so he missed the beauty of it sometimes. Doc smiled and enjoyed it. It had been a mess, but their first date, was the best.


	23. Copper & Tellurium (Flirty Ren)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Candi_is_a_writer: YES FLIRTY REN
> 
> Answer: So, this is a request now too. I asked if they wanted it to be one. They said yes. That being said, I accidentally shipped and accidentally wrote angst. HAVE FUN!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Ren has a small breakdown.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to. Do you guys like when I share the music I vibe to while writing? If not I can stop adding it. If so, then nothing will really change.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbOuIfNmLkA
> 
> Also, yes. The chapter title is CuTe. Deal with it.

There was a game Ren liked to play with the other Hermits. They didn’t realize what it was at first, but it always ended in Ren laughing like a madman and running away. Ren played this game whenever he got bored, which was unfortunately for everyone else, a lot.

This game Ren played was simple. When he got bored, he would challenge himself to visit as many of the others as possible. While visiting them, he had one goal. Make. Them. Blush. No matter what, they had to blush, or he lost. He did not like losing a game of his own creation either. It led to some very awkward situations.

Now, for the most part it was all in good fun, and there were times where he had competition as well. He remembered when Zedaph, Tango, and Impulse found out. They challenged him to see who could get Xisuma to blush first. Luckily for Ren, he knew all of their admin’s tells. They lost so fast that they challenged him randomly sometimes, and would try to get HIM to blush instead sometimes.

He grabbed a journal. He was sure no one knew he kept a record of each time the game was played. He would write in detail what happened, during and after the game. He would grab the journal whenever he was feeling lonely and go over the past.

He smiled a bit. There was the time with Jevin where a larger slime tried to absorb him, and Ren stepped in to calm Jevin down once the slime was dead. He had held him and whispered sweet nothings and gave Jevin a kiss to his head. That had made the slime man turn purple with blush. He had laughed and helped Jevin to his base so he could rest, panic attacks and breakdowns were exhausting, before moving on for the day. 

Oh, and there’s the time with Joe when he ran out of rockets. He had told Joe he could have rockets if Joe would write a poem for him, and then he bat his eyes. He laughed a bit remembering he asked Joe if he was pretty and got so close to him that the man slowly turned red. Joe had, made a beautiful poem and even gave Ren what he wrote it on. He smiled and went to look at the poem before getting back to his journal.

He snorted as he went to the beginning of the journal. Ah yes, flirting with Xisuma and Doc at the same time. If he was honest, that was what started the game. Xisuma and Doc didn’t fall for his tricks. To be fair, he didn’t like that Doc thought he only flirts with him because of a game, but what could he do? He liked seeing the others all cute and flustered. 

Xisuma had been a challenge to get to blush. He hadn’t even won that first round. Xisuma had made HIM blush. He had been trying to learn more about the admin to see if there was anything he could use to get the upper hand...when he got jumped by a bunch of skeletons. 

He hadn’t had his weapons or armor on him either due to Xisuma announcing an issue with the server that caused errors with weaponry and armor, so everyone was just walking around without it on. He had yelped in fear, and was certain he was about to die and respawn, when Xisuma rushed in and killed all the skeletons. He had been pulled into a tight hug and reassured that everything was going to be fine, and to not worry his pretty little head.

It had made him blush and cry. After that, he learned a little touch to his chest while flirting made Xisuma blush like crazy. It was amusing...but Xisuma had told Ren after the first couple times that if he got bored, or needed help, he could always come to him and he’d help. It had made him cry a bit and Xisuma reassured Ren that they were friends. Nothing could drive him away.

Ren sniffled a bit and smiled a bit. He was in his RV outside of Area 77. Grian had joined that season, and he had some friendly competition. Grian wasn’t bad with flirting, but if someone flirted with him, he would get very red and flustered. They made it into its own game. Ren said all Grian had to do for his game, is get into situations where the other hermits accidentally did something or flirted with him. It led to so many issues, but they shared experiences. Grian had started his own journal and kept it in his ender chest.

He laughed a little. He really loved hanging out with all the hermits. If he could spend the rest of his life with them all, he would for sure. No hesitation. Always with them, no matter what. He flipped through his journal when he noticed something. 

Out of all the Hermits, Doc was only in his book 3 times, while everyone else had so many more entries. He frowned. He didn’t think he had flirted so little with Doc. Maybe it was how he liked Doc’s laugh, and his smile. The moments when doc was soft? Precious.

When did he start crying? He touched his own face and put his journal away. Doc would never like him back...It is why he put on a smile...why he flirts with everyone. He knew that sometimes, they needed positive attention. Especially with the ConVex and Team ZIT. Sometimes Cub got too busy for Scar, or Tango and Impulse would get so buried in their redstone that they forgot Zedaph. They needed a reminder that people loved them from time to time, and if Ren was there to provide it? Baking with Zedaph? Gardening with Scar? All in good fun. Well, he wouldn’t complain about letting them cry on his shoulder. He also loved hanging out with Stress, False, and Cleo. Getting all dressed up and relaxing...

But at the moment, he felt so lonely. So lonely. He had no clue what triggered it. Maybe it was the realization that Doc would never treasure the time they spent together like he did...Plus Doc had been so distant with all the Area 77 stuff going on. It hurt to have him be so hostile and cold towards him. He started to cry. He didn’t register Grian finding him or trying to get him to respond. He didn’t notice Grian flying away to find someone.

He felt like he was falling down into a spiraling pit of darkness. He sobbed and trembled, face hidden in his hands. He just wanted someone to find him! But he also didn’t want to be seen like this. He was a mess!

That was when someone pulled him into a tight hug. He looked up to see a very worried looking Doc. He blinked and tried to wipe his tears away. “Doc? W-What…?” That was when someone joined the hug from behind and he looked to see Grian. “What’s going...on?”

Doc sighed and pet Ren. “Shhhhh...It’s okay Ren...Grian said you weren’t responding to him when he tried to talk to you. He said he even put his hand on your shoulder and you didn’t respond...He thought getting someone who knew you better would help…”

Grian whimpered and nodded. “I was so worried...I’m sorry it was uncalled for I--”

Ren moved to hug both Doc and Grian. “Thank you Grian...I...I just...started feeling so...lonely and I have...have no clue why...I just…”

Grian blinked and frowned a bit. Then he looked like he realized something. He then took a deep breath and nuzzled closer. “You are loved, Ren.” He didn’t say any more than that.

But it flipped something, and despite having stopped, he started crying again. He clung tightly to Doc and Grian. He whined and sobbed. “I...I just...I felt…”

Doc blinked before he understood too. Words of Affirmation, he doesn’t do that with anyone really, but...it is one of the five love languages. He thought for a moment. What were the others? Quality Time, he hadn’t done that in a while, and not with Ren. Acts of service, he didn’t do that, but Ren did that all the time, along with...what was the one about touch? Physical Touch. Ren had calmed a bit when Doc had pulled him into a tight hug. The other one was gifts. Receiving gifts, right? Kinda like acts of service, but different. “Ren...when’s the last time you talked with someone?”

Ren blinked and shook his head. “I uh...I think I spoke to Cleo in passing earlier at the shopping district...I wasn’t...really feeling like doing much or being out though...so I uh...came back here…” 

Grian blinked and nuzzled more, humming softly. “You are loved Ren...I mean that.”

Ren was still crying. He smiled a bit. “Thanks...I think...I needed to hear that…”

Doc hesitated. He pulled both Ren and Grian close and nuzzled, purring a bit. Grian looked surprised and Ren blinked. He took a deep breath. “Love you Ren…” He didn’t say how...just that he did.

Ren cried and clung. He muttered something, but neither of them could understand what he said. They just sat with him until he fell asleep. Grian put Ren’s things away and decided he would stay the night with him. No harm in that. Doc decided he would stay too, giving Grian a thankful look when he let Doc get in the bed with Ren and hold him close. They would show Ren he was loved more often, so he wouldn’t feel so bad.


	24. Dangerous to Love (Hunted Watcher Grian)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Fintastica: Watcher Grian no doubt has some kind of bounty on his head (why wouldnt he hes a watcher and 80% of fics dictate watchers are evil and i am ignoring the fact the viewers of the videos are supposed to be the watchers becausw fanfiction fandomverse). And idk, maybe some higher power is tracking down watchers because "theyre dangerous" and finds out theres one in Hermitcraft....
> 
> Answer: I put a small twist on this. I'm going to say there's a brief mention of an encounter with other watchers/a higher power (up for interpretation), but the main conflict is gonna be a Hermit who used to hunt down and exterminate Watchers. I also accidentally shipped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: My hand slipped. This is gonna be angsty with injury and panic and crying. 
> 
> Here's what I was listening to! Kinda got obsessed with the song a little.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5aMav6q-o0

He thought he had been safe. He thought he had gotten away from it all. He thought he didn’t need to worry about being searched for by other Watchers. He didn’t think he would get a warning that he was being hunted. He thought that the good times would have never ended.

He had been found. He managed to chase them away...by convincing them to let him stay. He had done everything in his power, not only to live...but to convince to be left with the hermits of Hermitcraft. He fought a fight and won. He had proven the extents he would go to. He had hacked Xisuma’s commands as admin to prove he would do anything, to protect the server. He had banned the intruder. He was the only one who knew they had come.

He pulled the cloak that he had been given tighter around himself. It was his Watcher cloak. He took a deep breath. He was on top of the Statue of Hermity. It had been overwhelming. He gripped his sweater a bit and lifted it to check on his injuries. He hadn’t come out of that fight for his right to live unscathed.

He sighed and looked out over the shopping district. The whole server had almost been wiped because he was there. He was a burden to them. He was half tempted to temporarily hack the server to give himself no chance of respawn. He didn’t. He had restored everything after hacking it the first time to protect it.

He stared at the sky of stars. He loved it there. He loved spending time with the Hermits. He’d stay as long as they’d have him for. As long as they wanted him, he would stay. It was one big dysfunctional family and he loved it. 

He stretched his wings. He didn’t get to stretch them often. He often kept them hidden. Only a small handful knew he was a watcher. Xisuma and Mumbo knew before he joined them...and Iskall and Wels had found out. He explained to them that he would never hurt anyone to reassure them. He had then gone and directly told Ren and Stress under the promise that they wouldn’t tell anyone and let him figure out how to tell the others.

Each encounter had been spaced out though. He didn’t have to deal with everything all at once. Sometimes he felt worthless though. He put them in danger by sticking around, and he was lucky, but if he hadn’t been...they all would have suffered because of him. He couldn’t allow that. He had shown he would fight to protect them from anything.

He didn’t care about himself, as long as the others were okay. He let the cloak wrap around him fully. He got out his mask and put it on. He liked to just sit in the night, and sit with his old watcher outfit on. It was a brilliant way to relax, and he didn’t have to worry, because he was very sure that no one came out to the Statue of Hermity.

_ Or at least...that’s what he had thought. _

What broke him out of his thoughts was something that chilled him to his bones. It was a loud hiss. He hopped up and whipped around, seeing Doc. Doc was hissing and holding his trident out, ready to attack. “What are you doing on this server, Watcher scum?” 

Grian flinched. He didn’t want Doc to recognize him. He let his magic swirl a bit to alter his voice so that Doc wouldn’t realize who he was. **_“Stand down. I mean no harm in being here. I was just enjoying looking at the builds and taking a moment to relax…”_** He tried to reason with Doc.

Doc snarled and took a step closer. “I don’t believe you! All watchers are destructive! All of them! They MURDER innocent people on servers with respawn active! The break the rules of where they go and they are horrible.”

Hearing Doc say that, echoed something in him. He examined Doc and watched him ready to impale him. He just got done fighting with beings stronger then him to earn the right to live and stay...but standing in front of Doc, he felt more like he didn’t deserve it. He took a step back away from Doc, closer and closer to the edge. He spread out one wing suddenly, trying to startle Doc.  **_“Do not try me-”_ ** He was cut off by Doc throwing his trident and impaling his wing. He let out a distorted scream of pain.

Doc growled and got the trident back. “No! No sudden moves!!” He didn’t trust this masked watcher. They could hurt everyone on the server. He couldn’t let him! He kept an eye on the watcher. The monster.

Grian teared up behind his mask and gasped a bit. His wing hurt so much but...this was what he wanted. He started laughing, his voice still distorted. He turned to Doc and he didn’t know if Doc would kill him or not.  **_“You know...I came up here contemplating killing--”_ **

Doc hadn’t let the watcher finish. “I KNEW IT! YOU ARE A THREAT TO THE OTHERS!” He hissed very loudly, and glowed slightly. He took a moment to make sure he wouldn’t explode. “I will not let you hurt anyone! I care too much for them all to let you do ANYTHING to them! If I have to end you, I will!”

Grian blinked. He hadn’t known Doc was so protective of them all. Maybe...he could test the waters a bit.  **_“Oh? Do you have one you like more than the others? Perhaps the one with the mustache? Or is it the one seemingly obsessed with chickens? The mutt? Or the demon?”_ ** He listed some basic things to try and trigger Doc.

Doc hadn’t reacted at first, but he slashed the Watcher’s chest with his trident, noting how the cloak had been quickly pulled back around himself, and a lot of blood dropped down. More than his trident alone could have caused. “...Were you hurt before I found you? Were you using this place to hide? And endangering everyone by dragging us into your mess?” He growled a bit, but he couldn’t deny that he was a bit worried. He had felt so much terror when this watcher mentioned Mumbo, Grian, and Ren. Grian more than the others. The guy was new, but cause so much trouble for a small guy, and was always jumpy. Maybe protecting him would show Grian that he meant no harm.

Too bad Doc didn’t know Grian was standing in front of him. He paused when he noticed a slight concerned tinge in his tone. He snorted a bit, his magic fading. He knew his voice would be normal now. But Doc was right. He endangered everyone. He should pay for his crimes. He got up slowly and backed up a bit more. He gave a slight chuckle. “As I was saying...I was contemplating killing myself...but if I’m gonna do that...I should at least give you the chance to see so that you can tell everyone that the one burdening them is gone…” He took his mask off and gave Doc a small sad smile. He coughed up a bit of blood. “Maybe I’ll see you around…” He then let himself fall.

Doc’s eyes had widened when he heard the distortion leave the watcher’s voice. That voice was...he felt his blood run cold. And then he admitted what he had been trying to tell Doc earlier. He took his mask off. “Grian…” He then let himself fall. “NO!!!” He rushed forward and jumped after him, wrapping his arms around the Watcher and opening his elytra to get them to safety. He then noticed how bad Grian’s injuries were. “Nonononono! Stay awake Grian! Please! I never--” He was crying a bit.

Grian was confused as to why Doc was carrying him now. He didn’t say anything, but he stayed awake. He watched as Doc put him in a bed and gave him a golden apple. He hesitated before eating it and then Doc started to apply healing and regen potions on Grian’s wounds on his torso and his wing. “Doc...why are you…?”

Doc hesitated. “I was a hunter of watchers...I...I’ve not met many watchers worth saving. A lot were cruel...and lost...but I...I like you Grian...I don’t want to see you hurt...I...I hurt you...god, I’m so sorry...I hurt you so badly too…”

Grian reached over and wiped the tears away. “Doc...I don’t blame you...I was trying to keep it a secret...and...I still think I should--”

Doc hugged Grian very gently and carefully, to not hurt him. “Plus I don’t...want you to feel like you deserve to die. You don’t. You are loved by so many of us...I...I care so much...Please...don’t do things like that anymore...if you feel bad...come talk to us…”

Grian blinked and started crying. “Doc...Oh Doc it was horrible…” He explained about the ones who showed up to take him away...to end him. He explained about hacking the server and doing things he hadn’t done in ages just to earn the right to stay.

Doc held him and hummed. “Shhhhhh...I’ve got you Grian...I’m sorry...I’ll make sure you get all healed up and then I’ll never hurt you again...I’ll even make sure you’re safe as much as I can...you can always come to me…” Doc and Grian sat there, at the Stock Exchange, crying and cuddling. Doc treated Grian’s wounds and gave him reassurance, and Grian reassured Doc and provided him comfort. Morning came fast, but even when it did, they stayed together for the better part of 3 days. Grian was fully healed by then, but Doc still was a bit paranoid. Grian let him stick around until Doc felt better about himself, but they spent more time together. Specifically at night under the stars, enjoying the beauty of the world they shared with their friends, enjoying a moment where they sat together, and watched the world pass them by.


	25. Sleepy Slime (Slime!Jevin)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Fintastica: jevin turns into an actual slime (the sentiment Jevin slime) instead of just a humanoid guy who has slime properties. How do the hermits react and more impoetantly, who do you ask to help when your servermate turns into a mob but still seems to know whats going on?
> 
> Answer: I wasn't sure exactly what to write, so it is a little shorter than some of the other things I've done, but I hope you like it anyways!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Eh, this is pretty fluffy, and no one gets hurt. Maybe a little panic, but nothing bad.
> 
> I listened to like...Achilles Come Down for half of this by accident. I think if I had continued, you might have angst instead of fluff. Here's the other song I listened to!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY0fWsQTXBU

No one had really expected this. To be fair, no one expected to just be walking along and their friend suddenly dropping to the ground and losing their form to become a blue bouncy cube. Joe had panicked a little when Jevin had dropped. He had picked up his friend so fast and found Xisuma. “XISUMA! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!” He rushed over, seeing who Xisuma had been talking to. Beef, BDubs, Doc, and Etho were there. The nHo.

Doc’s eyes widened. “Jevin?”

Beef frowned. “For once, it wasn’t one of our machines, I think. I didn’t do anything, and neither did Doc. Etho? Did you try anything experimental?”

Etho shook his head. “No. I didn’t.”

BDubs made a few sounds. “What do we do? Guys what do we DO?!” He was a bit freaked out. Doc and Beef put their hands on his shoulders, and looked to Xisuma.

Xisuma opened up his command panels to check Jevin’s code and blinked. “I don’t see anything wrong in the code…”

Joe made an exasperated sound. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOTHING’S WRON--”

“If I may interrupt…” Jevin hopped a bit, having been set down by Joe. “I only lost my form. It happens. I’m...I’m really tired and a bit low on health. I’ll be back to normal once I take some time to recover. You really should have just let me explain instead of panicking.”

Doc stared at Jevin. “This...is so weird.”

Beef snorted. “You are telling me this.”

BDubs knelt by Jevin and thought for a moment. “So...this is normal?”

Etho poked him. “You look like a blue slime…”

Xisuma sighed a bit. “I’ll get some health and regen potions. Take it easy until I get back.” He took flight, leaving Jevin with Joe and the nHo.

Joe rubbed the back of his head. “I’m sorry. I panicked. I thought because you were a cube now, you wouldn’t…”

Jevin snorted. “Let me guess, you thought I had lost my sentience? You know when I sleep, I turn into like...a puddle, right? Honestly...Do you guys have any questions?”

Etho nodded. “What happens if you encounter other slimes?”

Jevin shuddered. “Well, NORMALLY, I can talk to them and tame them...when I’m humanoid, it’s perfectly fine for me to be around slimes of all sizes.”

BDubs blinked. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ here.”

Doc nodded. “I think it would be important that you tell us. I think Slimes spawn nearby, so…” Beef had said while Doc was thinking.

Jevin looked a little distressed at that thought. “When I’m like this...larger slimes can absorb me...and I can absorb smaller slimes…”

Joe immediately got his sword out. “I think I’m going to patrol a bit and keep big slimes away...Hopefully Xisuma gets back soon.”

Etho hummed. “So you’re like this cause you’re tired? You should rest more often.”

BDubs snorted. “Hypocrite.”

Beef smiled a bit. “Says the one who built a mountain.”

Doc grinned. “He has a point...I build one too though, so I can’t comment.”

Jevin sighed. “Yeah yeah. I’ll take better care of myself. I promise. I’m sorry I worried you guys...I didn’t mean to cause you to worry…”

Etho nodded. “If you need anything, you can always just ask any of us…”

BDubs thought for a moment before getting out an empty bucket. “Can you fit in this?”

Beef and Doc stared at BDubs. Joe raised an eyebrow. “What the heck…?”

Jevin blinked and then went over and into the bucket. “Yep. I compact a little, but I can fit. It’s actually a bit comfy…” He yawned a bit.

BDubs grinned. “Why don’t you sleep normally?”

Jevin hummed. “I told you, I puddle when asleep. I heard some slime sounds and I was scared I was near a spawn location. I guess I was too tense to relax…”

Etho started to catch on. “What if you sleep in a bucket and we carry you around? You get to be kept safe, and we get reassurance that you are okay!”

Joe nodded. “It would give me some peace of soul…”

Beef rolled his eyes. “Peace of mind, Joe. The phrase is peace of mind. But I agree.”

Doc hummed. “Yeah. We can keep you safe and look after you when you get that tired.”

Jevin smiled a bit. “Okay, but you have to keep my clothes nearby...speaking of which…”

Joe hummed. “I’ll go grab them. Sorry again. I should have let you explain…” He flew off, and everyone laughed a bit. Xisuma came back and got filled in on their plans, and Jevin took the potions he was given and reformed in his clothes when Joe got back. He got dragged to BDub’s base after that for a good night’s rest.

He was glad he had friends who would freak out at the simplest things. He was glad they worried and cared for him. He thinks their plan would work too. A nice safe sleep, with no worries about being absorbed as he slept. It would be great.


	26. To a Friend (Mother Spore Grian/Dadsuma)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by WelshKitsune: Some mother spore Grian and a Dad Xisuma fic?(can be shippy or platonic, your choice) ,like we're it's Xisuma worrying over Grian cause Grian has been putting the hermits (not just the resistance) over his self and own needs ? Make it as wholesome and as sweet as ya want ! I love <3
> 
> Answer: I'mma have fun with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There's hints to angst, but it's fluffy (i think)
> 
> Here's what I listened to! For best listening experience, you need headphones where both ears work.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkmO-O2dBLM

Grian was stocking the Barge again. He had been hard at work the past few weeks. His sporelings had been having some issues, and despite the Turf War being won...He was still Mother Spore Grian. They were his team and family. He fussed over them all so much.

After the Turf War was over, he started to notice something that started to bug him. Mostly that Cub was sad looking and Scar wasn’t noticing that his friend was upset. So he approached Cub and spoke with him. Cub wanted to spend more with his Convex, but Scar was so busy with the job of mayor that he hadn’t noticed Cub’s attempts to spend time with him. Joining the Turf War had been an excuse.

Grian nipped that problem in the bud quick by dealing with Scar’s problem of not taking care of himself. He had been starting to burn himself out a bit. He had told Cub to wait for him as he walked to Scar. He had walked over to Aqua Town just in time to see Scar collapse. He had gasped and rushed over and got Scar inside, with Cub’s help.

The two fussed over Scar until he was all better, and Grian made them talk to each other. There were tears shed and hugs given. The Vex even made an appearance to thank Grian for his help with getting Cub and Scar to confront how they had been feeling. They didn’t like when the two hurt emotionally, because they could do something about physical injuries, but mental and emotional wasn’t something they could really fix. Not truely. Grian had been a bit uncomfortable, but accepted the thanks and moved on.

Keralis got sent home by Grian when he had seen him. He knew that Keralis had been missing his boyfriend, and that he had been missing him. He also insisted that he take care of himself before he left.

Grian had ended up mothering everyone on the server in some way. Comfort when they were upset, fixing miscommunications, bandaging injured, taking care of the sick, and the like. He became a mother to almost everyone on the server. Why almost everyone? Well…

Xisuma was the dad of the server. He didn’t take care of injuries or sickness, but if someone felt bad? If someone wanted comfort, he was there. If someone needed protecting, he showed up with a fierce rage and a burning fire in his eyes behind his visor. Whenever Grian tried to help him, he brushed it off, assuring his friend he was fine, and vise versa. 

So, he finally made up his mind. Grian had been slowly looking more and more exhausted. He was going to take action and make Grian put himself first for once. He looked around the whole server for Grian, and found him at his base, building. Grian smiled a bit. “Oh, hey Exs-eye-suh-mah-vo-ei-add.” He giggled a bit and waved. 

Xisuma groaned a bit. “Is-suma, Grian. How are you doing? You look tired.”

Grian blinked and shook his head. “I’m doing great! Honest. I just need to do some work, is all…”

Xisuma approached Grian before he could fly and pulled him into a tight hug. “Come with me...please?” He let his voice waver a bit.

Grian froze a bit and nodded. “Alright. I’ll come. Lead the way, Xisuma.”

Xisuma hid a smile and led Grian to his base. He pulled Grian into a bedroom and pulled him down onto a bed. “I want you to stay...Is that fine?”

Grian blinked a bit confused. He nodded and cuddled. “Alright...have you been having issues sleeping too? It seems like there’s a whole group….”

Xisuma chuckled softly. “This is more for you than for me. You look exhausted, Grian. For Xelqua’s sake!” He huffed a bit.

Grian blinked at Xisuma. “Did I hear that right…?”

It was Xisuma’s turn to be confused. “Hear what?”

Grian hummed a bit. “Xelqua?”

Xisuma blinked and nodded. “A watcher. My uh...home culture worshiped Xelqua...but some worshipped the watcher Domrao of the Nether…”

Grian snorted. “Does each realm have a watcher keeping an eye on it?”

Xisuma blinked and smiled. “Glad you are curious to learn. Where I come from, there are three ruling Watchers. Domrao, the ruthless ruler of the Nether, the First Watcher, the kind protector of the Overworld, and Xelqua, the generous builder of the Aether. Xelqua also looked over the End, whose Watcher went missing. My people were from the End, so Xelqua was the one they worshipped. I was actually named after Xelqua too, as a thing of good fortune…”

Grian snorted a little. He hummed a bit and thought. Should he tell Xisuma that he was Xelqua...He decided not to, yet. He’d tell him later, as Xisuma’s letting him leave. “That sounds amazing, Xisuma.” He said Xisuma’s name correctly that time, yawning.

Xisuma blinked. “Oh, so now you get it right.”

Grian chuckled and paused. “Can you take your helmet off, or do you need it to live?”

Xisuma paused. “It takes many weeks to adjust naturally to take my helmet off...If I need to, I just either go to the end if that’s an option, or I use coding and change my code to be compatible with the overworld.”

Grian paused and nuzzled. “X...thanks for talking with me and looking out for me…”

Xisuma smiled, then opened a command window, startling Grian. Grian watched as he changed a few codes and then he took his helmet off, looking into Grian’s eyes. “You wanted to see my face, right?”

Grian sucked in air and slowly reached up to the black spots on Xisuma’s face and stared into his softly glowing eyes. “You look…”

Xisuma snorted a bit. “...Like a freak, right? It’s why I hide-”

Grian shook his head. “NO! You aren’t a freak. You’re beautiful…” He blushed a bit and smiled at Xisuma. He thought for a moment. “Question, to your people, what are the watchers who aren’t the main three?”

Xisuma blinked and hummed. “Children of the originals, according to most. Some say they are siblings. Personally? I think the Watchers are chosen and then left to do their own things…” He raised an eyebrow. “Why do you--ASK?!”

Grian had let his wings come into existence and his glowy freckles appear. “Hello, Xisuma Void. My name’s Xelqua...and I think you are the most beautiful person. Also, I am not 100 years old. I got mixed up in something the First started, and eventually I was chosen to be a Watcher. And Dom’s not that ruthless. He just likes lava.”

Xisuma blinked and blushed heavily. “Y-Y-You...You’re…”

Grian rolled his eyes. “I prefer Grian...I left my life behind because...it was too much...the First and Dom agreed with me coming here...but the others...didn’t...hence why I’m hiding...plus, as you know, some watchers were...wrong choices…”

Xisuma nodded and noticed Grian had started to cry. His eyes softened a bit and he gave his nose a kiss. “Hey...you don’t have to cry…”

Grian slowly hugged. “I try not to think about it…”

Xisuma contemplated before giving Grian a kiss on his lips. He was going to pull back, but Grian pressed against him to kiss back. He closed his eyes and they kissed for what seemed like hours, but it was only a moment. He pulled back and smiled. “Then you don’t have to...Just stay with me, Grian…”

Grian smiled and cuddled and relaxed. “Thank you…”

Xisuma pet his hair. He never thought that the small prankster he had fallen in love with would have been the same watcher his people had worshipped. He didn’t think he’d love him back. He was glad he did. “No problem. Sweet Dreams...love…”

Grian smiled and smiled softly. He was glad Xisuma loved him back. “Sweet Dreams, my heart.” He nuzzled and closed his eyes, falling asleep. He let Xisuma take care of him. He felt better for it. He spent more time with the admin, and dodged questions about it all the time with distractions. Xisuma just had to glare and they’d stop bugging him about it. No one had to know about his culture worshipping Xelqua, or that he was dating Grian now. It was a private matter, after all. If he threw Ren into the ocean when he saw him flirting, he wouldn’t admit to it.


	27. NOT A CHAPTER - WILL BE DELETED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> QUESTION FOR YOU ALL

What do you all think of me making a second work? It won't be for oneshots and such, but rather, I'll be taking the various Hermits names and nicknames for each other, and using them for Minecraft seeds in Bedrock edition and then just messing around. Would you guys like to read on something like that at all? Just curious.

I was going to do it as something for when I don't really feel like writing requests or get too tired to write if you all were interested. 

I could also put a twist on it. I can either-

A) explain what happens to me and my family while running around the world's named after hermits.

Or

B) write what happens to me and my family as it happening to one of the Hermits, plus drama and shipping


	28. Kairos (Kitsune!Etho)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by WelshKitsune: a Kitsune Etho fic(Kitsune Etho is basically Etho as part artic fox's but more mystical !) And like Etho hides his tails + ears from everyone cause he's afraid (and maybe Dad Xisuma finds out and comforts him ,and yeh--)
> 
> Answer: I accidentally made an OC to be like a sibling for the Kitsune Etho. She's not there, but she's mentioned a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Etho has a nightmare and lots of emotions!
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pUR9oxXDMA

_ He heard gunshots and arrows flying. The forest was on fire. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he ran through, weaving and trying to escape the monsters on his tail and the roaring fire that only seemed to be growing. _

_ He heard dogs barking and howling. Horses neighing and galloping after him. He just wanted to live in peace! Not be hunted down! He didn't know what to do. They wanted his tails. He didn’t want to give them his tails or a wish or anything! He just wanted to build in peace and be happy and safe. _

_ He reached a cliff and looked back at the hunting party who had been chasing him. He was terrified. If he couldn’t figure out what to do, he would die. He watched the huntsmen approach him, when a larger, black kitsune in full fox mode and six tails leapt in front of him and glanced back to him, a tiny white guy. **“Etho, RUN! NOW!!”** She used magic to open a portal and shove him. **“DON’T EVER LOOK BACK! JUST KEEP RUNNING!!”** He cried out as the portal closed, and then he turned and he ran. _

Etho jolted awake, crying and he got up to splash his face with water. He got a brush to brush his tails and his ears twitched. He was in the safety and privacy of his base. No one would see him at that moment.

He took a deep shaky breath. He hadn’t had a dream about back then in ages. He had no clue why it shook him so much. He looked at himself in the mirror. The fur on his ears needed some grooming. He smiled a bit at his white fur. He was a kitsune.

His smile then faded as he wondered what happened after he was shoved through the portal. He had ended up running for days without stopping. When he was sure no one was around, he hid his three tails and ears. He had then run into Xisuma and xBCrafted. They were very nice to him and invited him to come with them to a place where he wouldn’t have to be afraid, according to them. 

It didn’t stop him from hiding though. He was older, and stronger now. He had six tails, and was really great with illusions. He even started practicing with elemental fox magic. He found that ice and fire came naturally to him. He wondered what he would have learned if he had never had to run in fear.

He groomed himself and then hid his tails again, and fluffed his hair to hide his ears, putting on his mask. He took a deep breath. He loved Hermitcraft, but some of the members terrified him, as they were hunters in their own ways. They didn’t hunt sentient creatures, but that doesn’t mean they hadn’t in the past. 

Hermitcraft was a place that forgave everything from before you joined. As long as you didn’t hurt anyone else around, it didn’t matter. The problem was, Etho didn’t trust any of them except the other hybrids, and even then, he didn’t tell them. Kitsunes were...shunned in most communities due to their magical abilities.

He let his thoughts wander a bit. The black kitsune...He hadn’t thought about it in a long while, but she sounded...familiar. He closed his eyes and tried to remember why. It had been so long since he thought back to those terrifying and lonely times.

He hummed a bit and then bolted upright. He remembered now. That black fox had been his ‘sister!’ She wasn’t actually related to him, but she looked after him like an older sister, and protected him to the best of her abilities. She had made sure he had food, and taught him all she could to make sure he would be okay.

He started to cry a bit. She had put herself between him and danger. He had no way of knowing if she was even still alive. He shook and held himself as he pressed himself against his wall and slid to the floor.

What was her name? He had to at least remember her name. It was the least he could do for her saving his life and allowing him to find a place where he was safe. He  _ WAS _ safe here too. Everyone was so nice and caring. He tried hard to remember. 

_ It started with...a P _ , he thought.  _ But what was her name...Wait, didn’t she mention something about...Ethos, Pathos, and Logos? She had laughed when she heard my name...Ruffled my hair...Pathos. Her name was Pathos, but she said she liked being called Patty. _ He let tears roll down his face. He had forgotten about her for a long while.

He couldn’t go and talk to anyone about this either. He couldn’t risk being found. Not after hiding from the danger for so long. He didn’t want to be a burden to anyone either. Or endanger them with his presence.

He jumped and went invisible when he heard someone open his door. He whimpered when he saw it was Xisuma. Xisuma sighed and held his hands up in surrender. “Etho? I know you are here...I just wanted to check on you. You said you wanted to meet up today, but then you didn’t show up on time…I got worried...are you okay? ...Etho?”

Etho had kept silent for a bit, before deciding to talk to Xisuma, but not show himself. “How do I even know if I can trust you?! You-You could be one of them!!”

Xisuma blinked in confusion before realizing. He sighed. “I won’t hurt you Etho. You’re important to me...please show yourself? Talk to me…? I’ll keep you safe if you’re scared of something, I promise…”

Etho hesitated before letting his illusion drop and he rushed forward to hug Xisuma and hide his face, sobbing and explaining about his nightmare and his memories. “I just--She must have died and it’s  **_aLl My FaUlT!!_ ** ” He let out a loud sob and clung.

Xisuma rubbed his back and pulled Etho into a tight hug, cuddling him. “Shhh...You don't know that. For all you know, she could still be alive. You don’t know what happened after you got thrown in that portal...you shouldn’t assume. I can stretch some contacts I have. Maybe I can find out what happened for you...Just know it wasn’t your fault...it was her choice…” He pet Etho and hummed to him. “It’ll be okay, Etho…”

Etho hiccuped and nodded. “Please...can you look? And...and thank you…” He cuddled and closed his eyes. “I still feel tired...can I sleep on you? You’re warm.”

Xisuma smiled. “Of course...We can just cuddle for a while…” He let Etho get comfy and held him. Etho closed his eyes and fell asleep, not having a nightmare that time. Xisuma held him, and swore to himself he’d find the black kitsune and that he’d protect and reassure Etho that everything would be okay. Etho needed the support, and he would be there to provide it.


	29. Don't Worry (Injured!Hels and Worried!Wels)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by WelshKitsune: some more hurt/comfort xD ,and that is hmmmmm, Hels and Wels ,were Hels gets hurt ,doesn't want to tell his brother (Wels) , cause he thinks he can deal with it alone but Wels ends up finding out and takes care of his brother :'D
> 
> Answer: Alright. I can do this easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Hels gets injured! So there's gonna be stuff about the injury, sorta. More nightmares and emotions.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85UQsB9odZQ

Hels had been annoyed at Wels always fussing over him. He could take care of himself! He had only been gotten out of his cell in the Nether recently though, so he could understand why Wels was so worried. He had been in a really bad state. 

He may have been an ‘evil clone,’ but Wels was very nice to him despite that. Wels insisted they were brothers, and Hels was inclined to agree that they were family. He didn’t know why he felt so light and bubbly at the idea of Wels being family, but he liked the feeling.

He knew Wels didn’t know the truth. He knew Wels didn’t know they were half siblings. He knew Wels hadn’t even known he existed, so playing the evil clone card had made him feel better about himself, but then Wels STILL cared about him, despite thinking he was a clone. Even though he didn’t know they were actually brothers...

He decided he could help Wels, and begged for the chance to do something without Wels watching over him like a worried mother bear. Wels had hesitated, before giving Hels armor and a sword and asked him to do something very simple. Go cut down some trees. Hels could get out and do something, and it wasn’t too dangerous. Just to be safe though, he explained which trees he needed, and begged Hels to not get too close to creepers or other dangerous mobs.

So here Hels was, cutting down trees. It was a boring task, but he was just happy that Wels wasn’t hovering over his shoulder. He was also glad that none of those hermits bothered him either. They just left him alone to cutting trees. Wels had told them about him and he didn’t know how to feel about their acceptance of him. He had threatened them all after all.

He hummed a bit as he finished cutting down when he heard hissing. He had no time to react when the creeper blew up and sent him into a tree. He let out a small cry of pain, and then noticed it was night, and skeletons were coming out and aiming their bows at him. He turned and ran, but he ended up getting shot with a few arrows before getting someplace safe.

He COULDN’T let Wels know he got hurt. He’d NEVER leave him alone again if he did. So, he did his best. He removed the arrows and bandaged himself up. He couldn’t let Wels see his injuries. As long as he was careful, he’d be JUST FINE. He took a shaky breath and found a bed, crawling into it. He was sure whoever normally stayed there wouldn’t mind him staying until morning.

He didn’t have to worry too much either. Nothing happened that night, though he did have to change his bandages before getting moving. He had bled through the ones he had put on the night before. He was a bit lightheaded from blood loss, but he put on a face and went home.

Wels had been so worried when Hels didn’t return that night. “HELS! There you are! I was so worried! Are you oka-”

Hels GROWLED a bit and huffed. “I’m fine. I also have that stupid wood you needed. Here.” He tossed the blocks to Wels feet and then he took a deep breath. “I’m tired. I’m going to my room.”

Wels frowned. “Are you okay?”

Hels SNARLED. “I AM FINE! Leave me ALONE!” He then rushed into his room and shut the door on Wels’ face. He couldn’t let him see that he had bandages on. He figured a little bit of rest would be fine. He took off the armor and got into bed, drifting to sleep.

Unfortunately, sleep was not peaceful.

_ “Why did you even keep the brat? He’s a useless hybrid, and can’t even be a demon right.” The first voice said. It was a scary voice. _

_ “He might not be good at the normal stuff, but he’s still very strong and talented. Plus, he can learn how to do that stuff with time. He’s still very young.” His dad had said. _

_ He had clung to his dad for the rest of that conversation… _

_ The scene had shifted though, to the battle arena he had been forced to fight in because of his father’s debt. That first fight had gone so badly...The opponent decided to take trophies from the defeated child. Hels FELT the pain from his back and spine and screamed. He thrashed about. His wings! His tail! No! They...they cut them OFF! It hurt so much--!! _

“Hels!” A voice cut through his nightmare. “Hels, wake up!”

He jolted awake, seeing the very worried look on Wels face. He also noticed Wels had a first aid kit and some potions on hand. “Wels...why are you in my room?”

Wels soaked new bandages in regen and healing potions and then replaced the plain bandages Hels had on. He relaxed as he felt some of the pain go away. He waited for Wels to speak. Wels took a deep breath. “I heard screaming. I thought you had been in danger, but you...seemed to be in pain...and having a nightmare...You don’t have to talk about it, but I know these injuries. The burns from a creeper, and arrow wounds from skeletons. You should have told me! They needed proper treatment…”

Hels hesitated and looked away. “I didn’t want you to worry...or fuss anymore over me...I can take care of myself…”

Wels looked at Hels before the look on his face softened. “Oh but Hels...you don’t HAVE to take care of yourself...you can count on me for support...I was trying to let you know that...You don’t have to do everything on your own…”

Hels froze and teared up. “You...Why do you care…?”

Wels frowned. “I’m not blind or deaf. I can hear you cry yourself to sleep...I can see the scars you have...Let me be here for you...to help you and keep you safe...You’re family, Hels…”

Hels started to cry and nodded. “...Okay...Okay I understand...Sorry for not telling you…” He looked away.

Wels gave a reassuring smile. “It’s fine. You’re nervous. It’s understandable. Just talk to me when you need to from now on.”

Hels nodded. “Alrigh...I will…”

Wels hummed and paused. “Do you want me to stay with you for the night?”

Hels nodded. “Please…” He whined a bit. 

Wels smiled and crawled into the bed with Hels and pulled him into a hug and cuddled. “Comfy? If so, then goodnight.”

Hels blinked and then nuzzled. “...Night…” They fell asleep together, not talking about the nightmare. Just reassurance that everything would be okay.


	30. Mr. Snuffles (Grian's Plushie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Salty_Pupper: If you are able to would you be able to do a oneshot where Grian has an old plush that was given to him when he was younger and still has with him (it's also a comfort item) and the Hermits tease him a little about it not realizing how upset the teasing makes him about the plush?  
> Then Dadsuma steps in and scolds them?
> 
> Answer: Alright. I did my best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Emotions go haywire. Some teasing.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to! :3  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbE3luZs3vo

Grian didn’t like to admit this, but he had a plush chicken called Mr. Snuffles (but sometimes he also called him Tiny Poutlryman). It had a little heart sewn onto it’s chest, a little black mustache, and a rose in its beak. He added details to it whenever he made new friends. It had a green eye and a red eye, to represent Doc and Iskall, and he was very happy with the little outfit he had given it that incorporated things from all the Hermits.

It was a very old plush that he learned how to sew to be able to fix it up and add things to it. Whenever he felt terrible, he’d cling to it. He’d pet its soft fluffy fabric and nuzzle into it. When he felt lonely, all he had to do was look at it and he’d see all the reminders of his friends. When he had bad dreams or felt worthless, holding it to his chest helped with its weight. It helped him calm down when he would get panicky.

It had been given to him when he was three. He didn’t remember who had given it to him, and he didn’t remember why. He just remembered how happy it had made him, and how the plushie had a little cloak and mask. He’s long since lost that outfit the plush had, but he made it so many other outfits and he did recreate the original outfit that he kept hidden. It looked too much like a chicken was a watcher when it had that stuff on.

When he wasn’t clinging to the plush, he kept it safe in a shulker chest in his ender chest. He didn’t want it getting damaged or lost. Sometimes he needed it when he wasn’t at home, and he’d find the closest chest, grab the shulker, and go hide. Then he’d cling to the plushie like his life depended on it and cry. It was always rough when he needed it somewhere that wasn’t in the safe privacy of one of his bases.

Now, this plush meant everything to him, and was extremely special. He put effort into keeping it in good shape, and adding tiny things to it to remind him of everyone. One day, he was with all the other Hermits. He had never been with them for a server jump before. They were just waiting on Xisuma. He was starting to feel his anxiety rise. He didn’t think anyone was looking at him, so he got into an ender chest and pulled out the plush to cling to.

However, he did get seen. Doc grinned a bit and spoke up. “Hey guys! Look. Grian’s got some sort of plush toy with him. What are you, a child?” He walked over to Grian and peered at the chicken. He blinked when he saw how much detail was on it. “Did you sew some of that yourself?”

Iskall blinked and snorted. “You sew man? It’s cool you can do that, but a plush chicken? That explains the chicken obsession.”

Mumbo blinked and frowned a bit. “Lay off him guys.” He had seen Grian tear up a bit.

Tango rolled his eyes. “There’s no harm in a little teasing, and it is a bit childish. A plush toy? Really. What, do you sleep with it?”

Grian pouted with teary eyed. “...Sometimes…” He winced as a lot of the other started laughing. He noticed Mumbo and Doc didn’t, but that didn’t matter. So many people were laughing at him.

BDubs snorted. “That’s such a childish practice!”

Doc glared a bit. “Don’t you start BDubs. You sleep with a night light!”

BDubs rolled his eyes. “I have a fear of the night. Not the same thing as sleeping with a plushie that obviously doesn’t have any use in helping with stuff like that.”

Stress giggled. “I think it’s adorable and cute! A bit weird, but still!”

False nodded in agreement and Cleo spoke up. “It is a bit childish though. Shouldn’t you have thrown that thing out ages ago, Grian?”

Grian started to shake a bit and clung tightly to the plush. He let out a strangled sob just in time for Xisuma to get back. Everyone froze as Xisuma rushed to Grian and pulled him into a tight hug. “Hey...Hey, G. It’s fine. What’s wrong? You’re clinging the life out of your comfort plush...your little poultryman. What’s wrong?” 

Grian sobbed and leaned into Xisuma’s hug. He just, couldn’t speak. Mumbo, however, could speak. “They were all teasing him for having a plush. Calling him childish and saying he should have tossed it. I think they are idiots. It’s a wonderful plush and it’s okay Grian…”

Xisuma felt his blood boil. They hurt Grian’s feelings. Doc knelt by them and slowly pet Grian. “Hey, Grian? It’s Doc. You’ve got your eyes shut pretty tight, but can you look at me?” Grian hiccupped and opened his eyes to look at Doc. “I’ve got a plush too. It’s weighted...is yours weighted too? Helps with panic attacks, right?” Grian nodded and let Doc slowly take him from Xisuma. Mumbo went over and pet Grian’s hair to try and help him calm down.

Xisuma was glad some of them understood. He got up and turned fast on everyone else, who were frozen. Some looking regretful, some apologetic, and some pale. “First off, HOW DARE YOU ALL! You all should KNOW BETTER than to tease someone! It’s a highly childish practice. SECONDLY. You all should have NOTICED how uncomfortable he was getting and stopped! You all owe Grian a sincere apology, but you all can give it to him LATER. We are moving to the next world soon, and we’re almost done. As soon as Grian’s calm, we go and THEN you all will APOLOGIZE to him. He even spent time adding little details to his plush to remind him of YOU ALL. You should be ASHAMED!” 

He growled a bit and then turned, helping Doc and Mumbo calm Grian down. He then got up and led Grian, Doc, and Mumbo to the portal and opened it. He shoved the others through and let Mumbo, Doc, and Grian move through on their own. He then said goodbye to Season 6, and followed his hermits through. 

When he got there, all of the ones who had taunted Grian were apologizing and being nice and asking things like, what details represented who. Xisuma smiled a bit. He was glad Grian felt better now. He walked over and ruffled Grian’s hair and leaned on Doc and Mumbo a bit. “They apologize good enough, or do they need another talking to?”

Grian snorted and shook his head. “I’m fine ‘Suma. Really. Thank you…”

Xisuma smiled a bit at Grian. “No problem. Now let’s get off this island and get to building!” Everyone cheered and then went their own ways. Time for a very chaotic Season 7!


	31. Sleepovers (Cleo, Aether!Jevin, Ghost!Joe)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Ghaniya1908: since i crave Jevin, Cleo, and Joe interactions can i get a fic of them? Probably just them causing some kind of chaos, pranks or arguements, things like that.
> 
> Answer: You're getting a sleepover and a prank. I hope you like it! :3 <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Some emotions, but it's mostly just the three fluffy and cuddles.
> 
> Here's what I'm listening to! :3  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Uh8G37hqM

It had been a long time since the three of them hung out just because they could, so they had made a plan. Once settled and there was a lull in all the chaos, they would all go to Joe’s place, and have a sleepover. Simple and fun. They would explain what’s going on with them and talk about their builds and just have some fun.

Joe was already at his home. He floated through the walls looking for food. He then took it the long way to the kitchen. He was gonna make some apple pie for later, and some stew for dinner and some baked potatoes. He even had Cub order some stuff from the mainlands for that day like snacks for Movie time. Popcorn and chips and soda. As a ghost, he couldn’t eat most things, but he knew what his friends liked to eat. He was happy to get to see them again and spend time with them soon. He paused in his cooking, and wrote up some poems. Just some small little gifts to brighten Cleo and Jevin’s days.

While Joe was preparing at home, Cleo had been packing her bags to stay a couple nights with Joe. She grabbed movies and some books, as well as some board games. She always made sure to bring some games. Things would get boring if they didn’t have entertainment at their party. Besides, she trusted Joe to have food and drinks covered, so she wanted to bring stuff for entertainment. She had told Jevin this a few days ago, and Jevin told her he’d bring pillows and blankets, so she didn’t worry about it. She paused and grinned. She grabbed a couple mob heads, remembering how Joe had a bunny head he loved last season. Maybe he’d like something new. Once she was content, she got on the move. Maybe she’d run into Jevin on her way there.

Jevin however, was a bit panicked. He couldn’t find ANY blankets or pillows, to the point where he THINKS he was pranked. He huffed and went to Cub and explained and Cub sighed. He got blankets and pillows and thanked Cub, and got a set of three matching plushies as gifts for his friends. He hadn’t gotten to spend time with them for a while, so he was looking forward to their sleepover. He gathered what he needed and started heading to Joe’s place. He smiled a bit as he walked, enjoying the day rather than rushing with an elytra.

Cleo waved when she saw Jevin. “Jevin! Over here! You decided to walk to Joe’s place too?” She walked over to him.

Jevin nodded. “Yeah. It’s a nice day in the Overworld. I wanted to enjoy it a bit before we get to Joe’s and night comes.”

Cleo nodded and hummed. “Yeah, I know that feeling. It’s a nice day…” She closed her eyes as she walked, enjoying the wind.

Jevin hummed a bit and smiled. He took Cleo’s hand. “Want to chat and enjoy it, or just enjoy it in silence?”

Cleo hummed. “How about silence for now? We know it won’t be that quiet once we get to Joe’s.” Jevin snorted in agreement. They walked in silence, enjoying the sun and the wind. They carried their respective items and when they got to Joe’s place, they knocked.

Joe opened the door and beamed. “Cleo! Jevin! Welcome! Welcome! Come in come in!” He pulled them in. “Get settled! Food is almost done, so just wait a little longer!” He went through the wall to finished off cooking.

Jevin and Cleo laughed and waited for Joe to bring them food and dessert. They laughed and ate, and watched some funny movies for a couple hours. Now they were cuddling on Joe’s couch. Cleo hummed. “So, who should talk about how they’ve been first?”

Joe hummed. “How about you Jevin? I know you had something you had to go do…”

Jevin sighed. “I uh...got kicked out is all...of where I had been staying when I leave the server...My uh...parents didn’t...necessarily like that uh...I kept leaving the Aether.”

Cleo blinked and hugged Jevin. “Aw, Jev...you can move in with me! Well, I’ve been hard at work building. I’ve got a zoo going.”

Joe clapped. “Oh that sounds fun. I’ve been taking care of the dogs on the server and made a resort for them all.”

Jevin smiled a bit as Cleo and Joe bounced back and forth, telling Jevin about some of the stuff that happened on the server while he was gone. He laughed a bit. “Hey guys...do you remember when we were kids?”

Cleo blinked and thought. “You mean, back before I was a Zombie?”

Joe hummed. “Before I was a ghost?”

Jevin nodded. “Yeah. Do you remember stuff from back then?”

Cleo smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Hide and seek was so fun! I always beat you two. Joe, you always worked yourself to death. You set things on fire so much…”

Joe snorted and hummed. “I liked tag, and you are the one who liked bitter stuff, of all things! We tried to introduce Jev to so many different foods in the Overworld.”

Jevin smiled a bit and chuckled. “Joe, I’m right here.”

“Oh right. Sorry.” Joe rubbed the back of his head.

Jevin shook his head. “It’s fine. I understand.”

A lull happened in their conversation, until Joe remembered something. “I have something for you both!” He got the poems and gave them to each person.

Cleo read hers first. “ _A Beautiful Star. Cleo will outshine them all. A Friend Till The End._ Awww, Joe! I love this haiku! It’s great!” 

Joe blushed a bit. “I...admit the poems I wrote for you two today were a bit rushed and not my best, but I’m glad you like it. I admit, I didn’t write as much for you as I did Jevin though, Cleo.”

Cleo hummed. “That’s fine. Jev’s had some trouble lately anyways! You can just write me one just as long some other time!”

Jevin hummed and looked at his and teared up. He smiled. “My god Joe...this is beautiful...Cleo, listen to this! It’s awesome: 

_ Flying high above the clouds, _

_ We don’t ever come down, _

_ I never have to be too loud, _

_ When my friend and friend come to town. _

_ Drifting as I do, _

_ I wonder why you visit, _

_ You get such a beautiful view, _

_ Even during the transit. _

_ The Overworld is nice, _

_ But you live in the Aether islands, _

_ Yet you forget about vice, _

_ You come here and beam bright like a diamond. _

_ I’m glad to make you smile, _

_ It makes everything I do worthwhile. _

Oh my GOD JOE. I love this SO MUCH! You have no idea!” Jevin was crying and he wrapped his arms around Joe in a tight hug. “I really needed this…” He had felt pretty bad before, but he was feeling a lot better after hanging out with Cleo and Joe.

Cleo smiled and got out gift boxes. “I got you both gifts too! I hope you like it.”

Joe snorted when he got a rabbit mob head. “I’ve been meaning to get a new one! Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Jevin looked curious as he opened his and he laughed. He got a mob head of Doc. “Oh this is some justice for last season, I SWEAR! Hahahahah!” He beamed. He paused and then got out his gifts. He handed Cleo a small plushie Magma Slime, and Joe a small plushie Aether Slime. He then held up his own. “I got us matching plushies…”

Cleo SQUEED very loudly. “I LOVE IT!!”

Joe laughed a bit and smiled. “I love it too Jevin. Thank you. It’s actually amazing. We have matching plush toys now.”

Cleo paused. “Jev, not to ruin the moment, but the blankets and pillows you brought aren’t your usual ones...what happened?”

Jevin sighed. “I think someone stole all my blankets and pillows.”

Joe hummed. “Well, we can’t let that slide, can we?”

Cleo grinned and nodded. “We certainly cannot. Let’s find out who and prank them!”

Jevin snorted. “Well...I did miss most the Turf War...another prank war wouldn’t hurt anyone.” He grinned.

Joe sighed and grinned. “Alright. Let’s do this.” They all got up and got to work. Someone was gonna repent for this. They at least, were getting a lecture from Joe for this. At Least. If not something more...cruel from Jevin and Cleo. No one messes with them.


	32. Why a Farm (Mob Hermits VS Farms)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Fintastica: Hermits who resemble mobs and mob farms....... (Jev, Doc, maybe Python, Cleo). I mean, do they just...not make slime/creeper/zombie farms? Do they make them and pretend nothings wrong?
> 
> Answer: To be fair, I had NO clue what to write, so this is incredibly short. Sorry for making it so short. I tried to make it a bit longer, but I couldn't think of what else I could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: None, I guess. There's not much with this chapter. Just a couple explanations.
> 
> Music? Not for this. I forgot to grab a song to listen to before writing this. I think it's kinda obvious that I wasn't listening to stuff tho. I think music might make me write more.

Cleo had no problem with making zombie mob farms. Some of the others had asked her why once, and she had explained it very simply. They didn’t have their minds anymore. They weren’t sentient like she was. They were mindless, and attacked for no reason. She had no problem disposing them, or when she found a stray one, she didn’t mind taming them either, since they would listen to her. But in the end, they still didn’t have higher brain function, so they are kinda just like dogs and cats to her.

* * *

Jevin isn’t fond of slime farms, but he finds them incredibly useful. He only isn’t fond of them because the bigger slimes scare him a little. He actually sometimes will have a small pet slime, and doesn’t mind slaying them either. He gives the same reason as Cleo. They don’t have higher brain function, so the farms don’t bug him. Not that much anyways.

* * *

Doc is more iffy about the farms because he can talk and communicate with the Creepers. He decides, as long as he doesn’t see it or know about it, he will ignore it. If he sees it though, he will purposely mess it up a little. He didn’t like seeing other creepers be forced to die. He knows the gunpowder is important, but it makes him feel bad and he hates it. He feels guilty when there’s a creeper farm. Most of the time, he will pretend they don’t exist, just so the Hermits don’t have to do repair work every single time.

* * *

Tango loves blaze farms. Loves them. To death. So much fire. He blames being part demon on that though. He says it’s his blaze demon heritage. But he will tame a couple blazes once in awhile as pets...and proceed to set everything on fire. He gets grounded a lot.

* * *

Ren does NOT like being around wolves, and actually loves sheep. He makes very comfy and nice sheep farms for his sheep and treats them like other members of the family.

* * *

Xisuma doesn’t mind Enderman farms, but he will pay tribute and respect their deaths upon starting or finishing a grind.

* * *

There wasn’t much reason to farm the tiny spirit vex, but if they show up around Cub or Scar, they just laugh while whoever else is around dies multiple times to the tiny sprites. It’s all in good fun anyways. When the sprites die, they pay their respects to them.


	33. Kids Again (Hermits into Kids)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Fintastica: Certain Hermits turning into kids temporarily. Chaos. Just pure chaos
> 
> Answer: Sure. You didn't say which hermits, so I picked some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Nothing much happens here either. Some emotions for sure.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LCOiwtCAZE

Grian was very disoriented when he woke up. Everything was so BIG. Why was it so big? He then noticed something. He was...smaller. He rushed to check himself in the glass of his base. His reflection was that of a young kid. He fluttered his wings in distress. He couldn’t hide them like this. He couldn’t hide his freckles either. He hated the purple glowy specks. He couldn’t be seen like this. He grabbed his communicator and rushed to hide. No one would find him for a while. He just hoped that whatever this was would be addressed soon. He watched the group chat, waiting for Xisuma to ask them if anyone was affected...by anything.

* * *

Scar woke up and saw everything was bigger. He instantly checked himself, and whimpered. Okay, so it wasn’t that everything was bigger...He was a child again. He teared up and pet Jellie. He then followed Jellie. “C-C-Cubbie! Cubbie! Help!” He sniffled and rushed to Cub’s place. 

Cub opened his door and blinked in shock. “Scar? What in the--So that’s why the vex were shouting at me. Come here…” He picked up Scar and held him. “It’ll be okay. We’ll contact Xisuma.”

Scar sniffled. “I’m scared…”

Cub hummed softly and rocked Scar. “Don’t be...the Vex and I will keep you safe. We promise. You’re ConVex, Scar. Always. Don’t worry.”

Scar nodded and clung. He watched Jellie and smiled when Cub held Jellie too, so that he could pet her. “Thank you Cub…”

* * *

Doc hadn’t been expecting this. Ren and BDubs had run to him, in tears. They were small. They were kids again and he didn’t know how to deal with it. What he did know is that they were crying and he HATED that they were crying. He knelt and picked them both up and purred to them. “Shhhh...I’ve got you both...It’ll be okay…”

Bdubs hiccupped. “Doc...It’s so scary...I-I woke up and almost got bit by a zombie with a helmy...and I couldn’t hold my sword...I was so scared…”

Ren whimpered and nuzzled. “A creepy almost blew me up...and a bone man shot at me…I got a scratch and it hurts…”

Doc frowned and took them inside and patched them both up. “I’ll keep you safe, okay? We need to message Xisuma, alright? Want me to do it for you two?”

Ren nodded. “Pwease…?”

BDubs nodded. “I don’t have my communi thingy on me…”

Doc hummed and pulled them close. “Alright. I’ll message him for you guys. Just try to get some rest. You’ve had a stressful day.” BDubs and Ren nodded and cuddled close to Doc, listening as Doc started to purr to them. They relaxed and fell asleep.

* * *

**Doc:** Xisuma. We have a problem.

**Xisuma:** Oh? What’s up?

**Cub:** I have a problem as well.

**Doc:** Oh, You do? Probably not as urgent as mine.

**Xisuma:** I’ll decide that. Doc first.

**Doc:** Ren and BDoubleO have somehow turned into children. They remember everything, but they are acting a bit like kids, and are very clingy and upset. They almost got badly hurt too.

**Cub:** Oh. Scar’s a child to. He was very stressed out and the Vex are not liking that something messed with him.

**Xisuma:** _@Everyone_ Is anyone else affected by this?

**Mumbo:** Not here.

**Iskall:** I’m good.

**Stress:** All the girls, Joe, and Jevin are fine too.

**Cleo:** Etho, give Stress her communicator back. Also, Etho’s good too.

**xB:** I’m fine as well.

**Beef:** TFC and I are normal.

**Tango:** Team ZIT is fine as well.

**Hypno:** I’m fine.

**Wels:** I am fine as well.

**Keralis:** I’m unaffected, Shashwammyvoid.

**Xisuma:** I would ask if that’s everyone, but I can see that Grian’s name isn’t in the list of people accounted for.  _ @Grian _ ? You good?

**Grian:** ...No. I’m a kid and I don’t want anyone coming to me. I can take care of myself…

**Mumbo:** But Doc and Cub said that Ren, BDubs, and Scar are acting like kids. Are you sure you don’t need help?

**Grian:** Please don’t come. I don’t want you guys to see me like this.

**Doc:** What’s up? Were you some kind of freak as a kid?

**Grian:** YES. I was. And I can’t control it and I’m just going to hide until this is fixed. I won’t LET anyone find me.

**Doc:** Wait...I didn’t mean it like that...I’m sorry.

**Mumbo:** You had better be.

**Iskall:** You should let us help man.

**Grian:** No. I will only come out for Xisuma, and I want this fixed. I’m a freak and ugly like this.

**Xisuma:** I highly doubt that, but if it makes you all feel better, I can stay with Grian as I try to fix whatever caused this.

**Mumbo:** I would feel better.

**Iskall:** I would too.

**Grian:** ...I guess I can let him look after me…

**Doc:** You had better. I’ll keep Ren and BDubs close until this is resolved.

**Cub:** I’ll stay by Scar until a solution is found.

**Xisuma:** Alright then. Everyone do be careful until this bug is fixed. We have no clue what caused it. Have a nice day everyone.

**Doc:** Yeah. We’ll be careful. Hopefully you work fast. I’m not good with kids.

**Cub:** I think you’ll find you’ll do fine...but I’ll come help you if you need it.

**Doc:** I’ve got this...but I’ll message if I need it.

* * *

Grian sighed. He figured that he would have someone sent to keep an eye on him. He was glad it was Xisuma and not anyone else. He was...horrible. A watcher. He hated being like this. He started to cry and sob. He didn’t know when he got pulled into a gentle hug. He felt the hand on his head and he heard Xisuma softly singing in Ender language. He relaxed and nuzzled. “Thank you, X....”

Xisuma hummed a bit. “No problem. I’m going to look through the code now…” He noted that Grian had fallen asleep. He got to work, trying to find what was wrong. He held Grian as he did so too. The guy could use the constant comfort. He didn’t want to let go of him. It took him a long while to find the bug, and twice the time to fix it. Grian kept to his word of hiding from everyone except Xisuma that whole time. Ren and BDubs might have stolen rockets during that time and held a fireworks show. Scar pranked people by summoning tiny vex to kill them like the vindicators do. Cub and Doc had their hands full.


	34. Bring Honor to Us All (Matchmakers)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by A Name (AO3 Guest): the rest of the hermits catching their "parents" kissing or something. Either that or someone trying to matchmake them not knowing their already together.
> 
> Answer: This was sweet, so I wrote it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There's like one kiss, nothing really needs a warning.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBeTKt0s68k

Xisuma was trying really hard to contain his laughter. It wasn’t fair to them if he just started laughing at xB and Etho’s attempt to ‘set him up’ with Grian. He and Grian were already dating, but they agreed to keep it secret for a while. That led to the server thinking they weren’t dating, and they kept trying to set them up. The free dates were nice though.

Xisuma waved with a smile on his face. “Afternoon Grian. xB said you wanted to talk with me?” He hummed a bit, ready to play a bit.

Grian rolled his eyes a little and smiled. “Afternoon X. Etho told me that YOU wanted to talk to ME. I think we’ve been bamboozled...Though look! They left us lunch. It would be a shame to let it go to waste, don’t you think so?”

Xisuma grinned and sat. “I do think it would be a waste, my friend. How about we sit and eat? Tell me how your build is going.” They always did this to everyone. They turned it to casual ‘how was your day’ stuff when set up.

Grian sighed a bit. “It’s actually starting to take a bit of a toll on me. I think I need an honest to god break, but I don’t know what to do about it. There’s so much work I have left to do...and it’s a bit overwhelming…”

Xisuma put a hand on Grian’s shoulder. “I’m sure everything will be fine. Maybe you should ask for help though. Didn’t Scar say he’d be willing to help you with the manor anyways?” He was a little concerned.

Grian smiled a bit and nodded. “You have a point. I should ask more people for help more often. Sorry if I’m worrying you a bit. You’re one of the greatest friends I could ask for...”

xB and Etho seethed. Etho stood up from his hiding spot. “OH COME ON! JUST FUCKING KISS ALREADY! WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO SET YOU TWO UP ON DATES FOR MONTHS!!!”

xB sighed and opened a voice call with the other hermits. “Etho revealed us guys.” There was a lot of groaning coming from the call and a few ‘Come on Mans’ as well.

Grian snorted. “Wait really? You’ve been trying to set us up?”

Xisuma giggled. “It seems they are.”

Etho growled. “OH STOP LAUGHING AT US! YES WE HAVE!! AAA!”

xB huffed. “It’s not that funny you two. We all have honestly tried.”

Xisuma doubled over laughing, and Grian fell over in laughter. Etho dropped anger for confusion. “What? Why are you two laughing so much?” xB made a sound of agreement to Etho’s question.

After taking a moment to regain their breath, Xisuma opened his command panel and did some code stuff so he could take his helmet off. “You two, and everyone on that call. I want you all to know, you all have made a grave and horrible mistake. Like, one of the biggest mistakes. Xelqua should be disappointed in you all!” He giggled a bit and put a hand over his forehead. 

Grian shook his head and startled Etho and xB by unfurling his wings. “Oh come now, Sumie. It’s not fair to tease them like that.”

Etho stuttered. “You-you-you’re a-a...You’re a watcher…”

xB’s eyes were wide and he ignored everyone’s shouts from the communicator. “Grian is a watcher...Oh my god…”

Grian snorted. “I’m not ANY watcher. My name before I changed it to Grian was Xelqua. And I am NOT disappointed in you all like my Sumie hints at~ I’m actually really proud at your dedication on trying to get Sumie to take breaks...and some of the dates were really nice...and very very welcome. Thank you.” He bowed to them.

Xisuma snorted. “I think you broke them. They aren’t even making sounds anymore, Gigi.”

Grian huffed. “Don’t call me Gigi in front of the children.”

Xisuma snorted. “Then don’t call me Sumie in front of them~” He leaned forward and he gave Grian a kiss. Grian closed his eyes and kissed Xisuma back. Xisuma wrapped his arms around Grian’s waist and pulled him into a hug as they kissed.

Grian pulled back and started laughing as xB and Etho both went EW like kids and then made dying sounds. “You two are ridiculous!”

Etho huffed. “So you two were dating the ENTIRE time?”

xB pouted. “And NONE of us found out on our own? You guys could have literally kept pretending and we would have never found out!”

Xisuma chuckled. “To be fair, we were very very careful about it. And yes. We were. Gigi forgets to take care of himself sometimes, so I have to remind him.”

Grian huffed. “Says the one I have to force to take breaks and eat. You need to be mothered all the time, Sumie. Even your brother agrees with me when he shows up.”

Xisuma pouted. “You all are no fun...But also thank you for taking care of me, love.”

Grian hugged Xisuma. “Anything for you, my heart.”

Etho blinked at the scene. “This is so damn sweet…”

xB nodded and turned the voice chat off on his communicator because they were all still trying to process what they learned. “It is...Hey, can we still make dates for you guys?”

Grian blinked at xB, then his eyes softened. “Honestly? If you guys did, we’d appreciate it so much. We get so busy that we don’t really get to plan dates for each other that often…”

Etho huffed. “Oh that won’t do. You guys need to have like back to back date days that you each plan. But yeah, we’ll keep planning dates for you guys. I’m glad you appreciate them. I’ll tell the others too. I’m sure they’d LOVE to plan some for you guys too.”

Xisuma smiled. “Thank you both…” He held his arms out to offer them a hug. xB and Etho went to Xisuma and hugged him. Grian instantly joined the hug. Then the hug broke up. “Now, I’ve got some things to check--”

Grian hummed. “I’ve got my base--”

Etho grabbed both their wrists. “Your date isn’t over though! There a few more things xB and I had planned for you two to do.”

xB did pouty eyes. “You guys gotta finish your date…”

Xisuma and Grian glanced to each other and beamed. Grian smiled and spoke. “Alright. We’ll finish our date and stick around. Thank you both. Really. We appreciate it a lot.”

Etho and xB smiled and got to work on updating Xisuma and Grian’s date. Music, snacks, pillows and blankets to relax, and more. Grian and Xisuma spent the rest of the day enjoying the view and relaxing, cuddling together. Etho and xB took time to have some fun just taking care of the mom and dad of their group.


	35. Burn in Hell (Hunted Hitman Iskall)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Candi_is_a_writer: I dont know how many requests you have rn but can we maybe see a group of hitmen trying to get a hit on iskall and the server has to see him and Wels talent on this stuff- good practive for writing fighting scenes lol-
> 
> Answer: I was a little tired writing this, but I wanted to get it done! I hope you like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: There be murder in this! Just be warned.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3j-JLylgNk

Everyone had been hanging out in the shopping district. Nothing seemed like it could go wrong, and in fact, there was laughing and some gentle rough housing. Nothing bad was supposed to happen. A fight wasn’t supposed to break out, but there was a split second and Wels had pinned Iskall to the ground, startling everyone. They were all confused as to why Wels suddenly tackled him, and even more confused when he got off Iskall and helped him up, drawing his blade.

Iskall sighed. “Oh man. That was a rookie mistake. I know where you are now.” Everyone looked confused, but Iskall wasn’t focused on them anymore. 

Doc inspected the area past where Iskall had been standing and blinked. “Someone just tried to shoot Iskall with a bullet!”

Iskall drank a potion of swiftness and an invisibility potion. Everyone looked concerned as 5 hitmen got thrown into the shopping district square. Wels walked over and pointed his sword in the face of the one who looked like he might be the leader. “You should learn not to bring guns into servers that aren’t yours. If you want to take us out, do it the way allowed on the server, cowards. Bows and arrows, axes, swords, poison. Those things. Don’t go the cowards route and bring in guns of all things.”

Iskall popped his knuckles and got out his own sword. “It’s been a long while since I’ve had a good fight Welsie. Let them get up and just try to take me on.” He grinned a bit.

Wels raised his hand and backed off a bit. “Alright, but I get to fight at least two of them. Is that a deal?”

Iskall laughed a bit. “Oh, it is a deal.” He looked at the five people. He decided to mentally label them. “Hey Welsie. You pointed your sword at their leader, right? So we have Leader, Lanky, Lardo, Midget, and Mulch, right?” That made the five hitmen get angry.

Wels laughed. “Yep! The useless one, the tiny one, the fat one, the walking twig, and the one who led them into this trouble. Which ones do you want to fight?”

Iskall hummed a bit. “Give me Lardo, Leader, and Mulch.” He popped his neck.

Wels glanced to the Hermits who were watching in wonder and grinned. “Alright. Fine with me. READYSETGO!” He rushed forward with his blade and a shield, knocking the Lanky one and the Midget away from the other three and he gave them enough time to draw their weapons before he lunged at them, swinging his sword with deadly precision, aiming for vital spots. Heart and Neck for death, Leg and Eyes to cripple. It was everything the two could do to prevent themselves from getting decapitated.

Iskall had three to worry about, but Lardo was slow. He would get distracted or blocked by Mulch a few times, but he was focusing on taking out their weakest link first. The Leader tried multiple times to stab Iskall, but he kept ducking under the blade, and eventually he disarmed the leader and then took the blade for himself, dual wielding blades as he disarmed Mulch and Lardo and forced them back over to their leader. “I’m almost disappointed.”

Wels disarmed his two and forced them back too. “Same.” He grinned as they drew bows. He and Iskall rushed them as they fired arrows, swinging their swords in sync to cut the arrows that were fired in half and then cut all the bowstrings with one swing each.

Iskall sighed. “How about this? I let you all live if you NEVER come back~ And don’t tell anyone where I am, or I will find you~” He hummed and watched the cowards whimper.

Wels wrapped an arm around Iskall. “Aye! I’ll be hunting ya down too if ye try anything funny! And ye don’t want the Ex-Captain of the Morana on yer bad side.” The five hitmen paled and turned and ran.

Iskall got out his bow. “No mercy?” 

Wels grinned. “No Mercy.” He got out his own bow and notched two arrows and let them fly. They hit their marks, killing two of the five hitmen. Iskall drew his bow back, three arrows, and let them fly, one after the other, killing the rest of the hitman.

Iskall huffed. “No point in sparring anyone coming to this place intending to hurt anyone on this server.”

Wels nodded. “If they come to hurt her, then they deserve murder.” He glanced to the other hermits and sighed. “Hey Iks?”

Iskall hummed and watched as the server magic got rid of the bodies. “Yeah Welsh?”

Wels made Iskall look at the others. “I think we have a lot to explain.”

Iskall rubbed the back of his head. “Well...shit...Sorry guys! I guess my past kinda caught up to me a little...I’ll explain. I promise. Just give me a few moments to recollect my thoughts!”

Wels pat Iskall. “It takes a lot of effort for him to steel himself like he did just now. Give him a few minutes.” The other hermits agreed and waited.

Iskall took a few shaky breaths, and blinked when Mumbo and Grian walked over and hugged him, whispering soft reassurances and sweet nothings. He relaxed a bit. “Thank you guys...It’s really hard on me to talk about this…” He took a deep breath and turned to the rest of the hermits. 

Wels looked away, but Ren and Keralis reassured him. “I can help you explain, Iks.”

Iskall smiled a bit and nodded. “Alright then...Well...I guess the first thing I have to tell you all is that I used to be a hitman…”

Wels smiled a bit. “And I used to be Captain of a pirate ship called Morana, which means death...and let me tell you, I gave Iks a run for his money when he was given his job to come after me.”

Iskall snorted. “You cheated is all...though he did also save my life. That’s more into the story about my cybernetic eye but...anyways...I failed to kill Wels, so I lost my job. That’s fine. But I was still one of the most dangerous hitman that had been hirable. I regretted taking the job so many times. Once I had been freed by failing to get Wels, I could go anywhere, but I didn’t know what to do with myself. I think that’s when Xisuma found me and invited me to Hermitcraft. Finding Wels there was a surprise and he told me his ship got sunk and he lost his whole crew. I gave him a little comfort and we became close friends. But it seems like the guild didn't like me leaving despite them firing me. Oh well.”

Wels snorted. “It’s only because I understand ya, you crazy bastard. And screw them. They can burn in hell!” Iskall rolled his eyes and smiled. The other Hermits spoke amongst themselves before giving Iskall and Wels hugs. They gave both their friends reassurance, letting them cry a little, and then went back to just hanging out before the chaos of someone trying to kill their friend happened. Chaos was common on their server after all.


	36. Please No (Server Mishaps)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Goat (AO3 Guest): Could you do something with mumbo and Xb getting turned into who old they were when they joined the server. Mumbo was 16 and Xb was 12
> 
> Answer: I didn't know what to write, but here you go. Sorry if it's a little short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: None.
> 
> I didn't listen to music this time. I listened to one of Tango's live streams.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD7onvo47eQ

Mumbo had no clue what was going on when he woke up. He felt weird and like going back to sleep. Instead he forced himself to get up and get to work. He had a lot of plans for the day, and had stuff to do. He paused when he saw himself in the mirror. He dropped the shulker he had in his hands and heard it clatter onto the floor.

He rushed to grab his communicator. He was 16 again. He did NOT want to be 16 again. Anything BUT 16. He had been so awkward back then, more than he was now. He couldn’t find his communicator. WHERE WAS IT?! He then found it and opened his chat…

* * *

Meanwhile, xB was having a minor crisis. He was 12 again. God damnit. He had found out when he woke up and his clothes didn’t fit. They had all been too big. He sighed a bit and hummed. 12 wasn’t...the best but at least it wasn’t like he was a baby. He didn’t want to be 12 though, but he was fine with it taking a while. 

He grabbed his communicator. He had to message Xisuma about this. If something was wrong with the server, Xisuma had to be informed so he could fix it. Besides, as fun as it was when he was younger, he didn’t want to be 12 again.

* * *

**xB:** _ @Xisuma _ . We have a problem.

**xB:** _ @Xisuma _ . Please respond.

**xB:** _@Xisuma_ please?

**Xisuma:** What is it? I only just woke up…

**xB:** I’m 12 again. Please help.

**Mumbo:** Oh, so I’m not the only one affected.

**xB:** Oh? How old are you?

**Mumbo:** 16\. I hated being 16. 

**xB:** You try being 12.

**Xisuma:** Well, I will get to work trying to fix this. Don’t push yourselves too hard, and if you need anything, come to my place. Even if it is to hide.

**Ren:** I’m here too. All of us. I think most might still be asleep though. 

**Mumbo:** Thank you.

**xB:** I’ll keep that in mind!

**xB:** Hey Mumbo. Want to meet up just until X fixes things?

**Mumbo:** Sure. It would be a welcome distraction.

**xB:** Come on over then! I’ve gotta find clothes that fit TuT

**Mumbo:** I’ll see if I have anything small for ya.

* * *

Mumbo then checked his stuff and grabbed the smallest clothes he could find. He then equipped his elytra and took flight. xB’s base was a little far, but he would rather have company who was also affected by this mishap than be alone.

He landed outside xB’s base and knocked on what he thinks is xB’s room. “Hey, xB. I’ve got some clothes I think would fit you...Want me to set them down and turn away?”

xB hummed. “Please…” His voice cracked. 

Mumbo set the clothes down and turned away. “Alright. The clothes are set down and I’m turned. Take your time.”

xB opened his door and took the clothes. He got dressed and then pulled Mumbo to his living room. “Do you like my building?”

Mumbo nodded. “Yeah. You’ve been doing really good.”

xB smiled a bit. “Thanks. How’s your build going?”

Mumbo hummed. “I’ve got the heart working. It’s really hard, but it’s functioning very well. I’ve also managed to make something big and that I’m happy with...“

xB hummed. “I’m glad you are happy with it. I’m working hard on my base too, and it’s starting to look great...I’m just a bit frustrated that this server glitch is interrupting my plans.”

Mumbo nodded. “Yeah, I’m a bit frustrated about that too. I had big plans for today...and I was so mad that they were interrupted.” He smiled. “But I am glad for the chance to hang out. We haven’t done that in a while.”

xB smiled and nodded. “We can make some food and just chat for a while...That would be nice.” He bounced a bit. “Plus I think I still have a bunch of cookies from the mainlands…”

Mumbo beamed a bit. “And you’ll share them?”

xB giggled. “Of course I will! Let’s go!!” He got the cookies and sat down with Mumbo. They turned on a TV to a random channel and then just spoke to each other about their builds and how things were going. At some point they got a DM from Xisuma saying he was about to put in the command to fix the server, and that maybe they should get in private or change clothes or something. xB offered Mumbo one of his spare rooms before rushing into his bedroom and waiting. 

He let Xisuma’s server magic wash over him and he relaxed as he got turned back to normal. He then checked on Mumbo after getting dressed and smiled. “Back to normal now, you spoon?” He chuckled a bit.

Mumbo rolled his eyes. “Yes, I am...but today was nice. I hadn’t realized how much I needed a break. We should hang out more too.”

xB nodded. “I might take you up on that sometime in the future. See you later then?”

Mumbo hummed. “Later then! See you around.” He takes flight and waves. He leaves back to go to his base. xB watched him fly away and smiled. Time to get some work done.


	37. Reminiscing (Herobrine!TFC)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Fintastica: Bit of an odd one but.......Herobrine TFC?
> 
> Answer: I honestly had no clue what to write, so it's kinda really super short.   
> Sorry. I hope you like it anyways.   
> I also have never written for TFC before.   
> Not extended like this, so I hope I did at least, slightly okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: None.
> 
> I didn't listen to anything for this one. Srry.

It had been a long time since he had been reminded about who he was before joining Hermitcraft. He had found an old music disc and was listening to it when he started to think about the past. It had been a long time since he had been known as anything other than TinFoilChef, or TFC. He had been grateful to Xisuma when he had reached out to him to let him into a safe haven for anyone who needed it. So, when he got the offer, he accepted.

Hermitcraft is what Xisuma was calling his group of people...and each world they build on called Seasons. TFC had been nervous at first, and he used an alias with them all. Not even Xisuma knew who he had been before he joined them. He did know that he had been running and tired and lonely.

As the oldest of the group, sometimes it felt like he was a parent, and he kinda hated it. He would make sure they slept and got food, and sometimes do a little world manipulation for them. No harm in a thing here or there to make sure they were okay. He was probably the only one who could make Enchanted Apples, but he kept those sparing, just in case.

His name before he joined the Hermits? He had been Herobrine, and he was tired of it. Now he just wanted to live in peace. Of course, the hermits were very chaotic sometimes, so he would hide from them, or dig until he felt better. He didn’t always build like the others did, but he was always welcomed.

He was glad. They invited him to parties, and sometimes he would say no, but sometimes he would go and have fun. Sometimes he got roped into shenanigans, but he didn’t mind as much as he acted like he did sometimes. He had patience with everyone. They were younger, after all. They hadn’t been around as long as he had. Not even the Watchers were as old as he was.

He watched as Grian placed some mycelium in the shopping district. Oh, that was definitely going to start something. He snorted a bit. He was glad he accepted Xisuma’s invitation. He was glad to be part of this server and the chaos that everyone brought, even when he didn’t take part in the chaos.

He was happy with just letting things happen around him. He was content to just watch everything go down and to do his own mining and building. It was nice and he enjoyed it. He sent Xisuma a quick, “thank you” and then continued on his day, ignoring the very confused messages from him. He smiled a bit, and got to work. Maybe for once, he should throw a party and invite everyone else to it. It would be an interesting change of pace.


	38. UPDATE - Not a chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I need to explain some things. Also, this chapter won't be deleted because Imma share my art.

I'm sorry for the lack of me finished requests. I got a little stuck on a request that I wanted to do well. I'll get back to it as soon as I can (plus I'm a little burnt out).

That being said, I have a job now guys! Hooraaaaay! That also means I'll probably have less time to write. Don't worry though! I will still do the requests currently lined up, and future requests!

I'm going to put a list of my current requests I've got to work on here. Hopefully, within the next couple days, I can get one or two done. You can still request me to write things (and you can request multiple things, up to 4), but I will be slower until I get into a schedule due to me getting a job. Hopefully you all will still enjoy what I write though! <3 You all are so nice sometimes. Anyways, here's the request list (and order of writing) that I'm working on.

  1. All the Hermits realizing Grian is Xelqua, and that Xisuma is dating his god.
  2. Baby Slime Jevin
  3. Fire accidents with Fire Spirit Tango and other members of ZIT.
  4. Angsty self conscious magic boi (Scar)- and maybe a ship thrown in
  5. Bdubs/Scar/Grian with a bit of angst
  6. Dadsuma/Mother Spore taking care of frustrated/tired Doc.
  7. Scar/Evil X stuff, hurt/comfort
  8. Cleo, Jevin, and Joe with angst
  9. xBCrafted/Hypnotizd Fluff
  10. Sassy Teen Grian who doesn't remember the Hermits interacting with said hermits
  11. Fire Spirit Tango Falls into Lava



This is what I've got to work on.

ALSO! I'd love to share something I drew with you all. See, I RP, and in one of my RPs, Evil X wore a dress and was adopted by the vex, so I drew that! Here it is

I don't draw often, and my art isn't he best, but I tried to draw him. He's got scars and pointy ears and a tail! Lookie! He's even got blue and black freckles and a little blush and he's adorable! I hope this partially makes up for me being unable to write as much. I'll either post soon, or give you all another update with art soon! We'll see!


	39. UPDATE 2 - Not a Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schedule Update! Some general stuff, and a new drawing with a question.

Alright, so my job is keeping me very busy and very tired. I'm a Walmart greeter, who stands at the front doors for 8 hours and then cries in pain because of my feet when I get home, which is better than nothing. That being said, I've not had a lot of time to write because of that, plus the request I WAS working on has me stumped. So, I'll write on it when I get ideas, and work on some of the other requests as I get time _(I'll be writing at least 2 tomorrow to try and catch up a little)_.

That being said, would you all be interested in reading things like my role-plays, or hermitcraft au ideas/stories _(for some of them, I'd have to ask my RP partners if they are okay with me posting them)_?

I've got some secrets I am working on that I think you all will enjoy, but in the meantime, I'll do the oneshots for ya, and the occasional random drawing, and maybe even some personal oneshot stories I have bouncing around my mind (I've got two AUs to write for, but am currently only working on one _(with some help, but that's all the info you are getting on this secret project))._

I was also thinking, I have a few ideas that I don't want to write, but I think would be AWESOME to see you all write _(or drawn, or fleshed out in any way)_ , if you wanted me to leave those ideas in the bottom of my update chapters to see if you all get any inspiration _(love you guys so much)_ , I will. I'll even leave a few sample ideas at the bottom of this chapter _(some I might write, some I might not)_.

Here's an updated request backlog list that I'll work on as soon as I wake up tomorrow, starting from number 2 and doing as many as I can mentally handle.

  1. All the Hermits realizing Grian is Xelqua, and that Xisuma is dating his god. _(To be worked on as I get ideas)_
  2. Baby Slime Jevin
  3. Fire accidents with Fire Spirit Tango and other members of ZIT.
  4. Angsty self conscious magic boi (Scar)- and maybe a ship thrown in
  5. Bdubs/Scar/Grian with a bit of angst
  6. Dadsuma/Mother Spore taking care of frustrated/tired Doc.
  7. Scar/Evil X stuff, hurt/comfort
  8. Cleo, Jevin, and Joe with angst
  9. xBCrafted/Hypnotizd Fluff
  10. Sassy Teen Grian who doesn't remember the Hermits interacting with said hermits
  11. Fire Spirit Tango Falls into Lava
  12. Fluffy polytechs fic centered around a nonbinary Iskall (This one might leave me stumped. I've never written for nonbinary characters before, but I honestly want to give it a try. I just need to do some research first).
  13. The Hermits finds out what Xisuma is hiding under his helmet (also make it angsty, no ships) 



Also! I made a drawing, but I seriously cannot tell if it looks better with or without the outline.

It's a pyrophobic Helsknight who has an evil voice (THE Evil Voice that messed with Ex, to be specific) whispering in his head while he is trapped in the nether. He's offering someone or something unseen a hug though, despite his own distress. Oh, I think I probably could have made the drawing more interesting if I had added something like scars, but I liked it like this. Also, his "belly button" is a nether star. He's also got four potions on his belt (Fire Res, Strength, Night Vision, and Invis).

**With an Outline**

**Without an Outline**

Alright, here's the section with the ideas that I have, but am not sure if I am going to write or not. I'll include 2 detailed ideas and 4 generic ones _(one or two of which I may or may not have requested to someone already)_ . If you happen to want to write for any of the ideas, feel free to write/draw/other them and share them with me! I'd be happy to see what you can come up with! <3 If you don't that's fine too! I'm just curious to see if any of these ideas inspire you all.

  1. Detailed Idea: Ship- Iskall/Mumbo/Grian/Docm77, Season 6. Grian's scared of Doc due to a couple encounters and the prank that was supposed to get Cleo but got him instead. During the Civil War, there's a small encounter, and it causes Grian to have a panic attack. Doc goes to follow him. Maybe Mumbo and Iskall get protective? Maybe not. Maybe Doc helps Grian through a tough time and shares something that was hard on him. But Doc is the to be the first one to actually be like "I want to date you" to Grian and there be envy from the others.  
  

  2. Detailed Idea: Mother Spore Grian mothering all of HEP secretly, and then something happens while the Resistance is off world/server like Grian getting hurt or having a breakdown and he tries to get help from HEP, but he doesn't press it when he thinks they think he's not serious, thinking they wouldn't come at first, only for all of them to come and then realize that it was Grian who had been helping them, making sure they had beds or food and such, because he had boxes labeled for each HEP and Resistance member with self care items to take with him when he checks on them. Lots of self care and fluff and comfort and love.  
  

  3. Short Idea: BDubs is a phantom/magical sun resistant magic eater/vampire. Shenanigans ensure due to phantom nature.  
  

  4. Short Idea: Big Brother Watcher Domrao and First bring NPG and Robo!Grian to visit their brother Xelqua. Fluff, or you could do a hurt/comfort route, or other.  
  

  5. Short Idea: Angst = Grian cuts off his watcher wings after one too many careless comments.  
  

  6. Short Idea: Grian has a wedding with like, 5 husbands _(or more, or less, but at least 3 husbands)_ and is wearing a dress and invites his family and all the other hermits. Chaos ensues.  
  

  7. Bonus Idea: Evil X meets Hels for the first time on top of the HEP building. Hels went to hide so that no one would see him cry, and he sees a depressed Ex there, who thinks his brother would ban him any moment, even if he does nothing wrong. Then Ex introduces Hels to BadTimesWithScar. Friendship occurs.



**Note for the Watcher stuff, here is some of my headcanons:**

Domrao is the second watcher, the first one doesn't have a name and is just called First for me. I call NPG by the name Neo, and the Robo!Grian is Ricky, I discovered all this by accident due to RP and overthinking stuff.

First is very much the parent of the group of brothers, being the oldest. Dom's the second oldest, Grian is the middle child, Ricky is younger than Grian, and Neo is the youngest of the brothers.

Dom very much gets annoyed by Grian _(the most)_ and Neo can't do anything wrong in anyone's eyes. First dislikes pranks, but isn't afraid to "punish" people for pranks (he totally pranked Grian with bedrock. Grian was furious, but also happy because his brother finally participated).

But any interpretation you do is up to you. Change it up if you want to! But I also headcanon that Grian, while he may not like most of the unrelated watchers _(there's more than one family/group of watchers, which is where the bad reputation comes from. First and Dom are very much good people)_ , he misses his brothers a great amount.

I also headcanon that a watcher's wings is tied to their emotions. If they lose their wings, they lose emotion. If they tear up their wings, their emotions will be messed up. If they leave broken feathers in, they'll have broken emotions. So taking care of the wings are important.

**Headcanons for Evil X, BadTimes, and Hels:**

Evil X's name is Xanthi. Someone else suggested it to me and I love it so I'm rolling with it. He also loved his dad (Doom Guy) and misses him. He adores his brother and worries too much now that he's no longer controlled by an evil voice. He was saved somehow, either by X noticing an anomaly in Season 6, Watcher Grian noticed the ban went wrong and saved the guy, or some other way involving X and or Grian.

The Voice that bothers him all the time is from deep in the Nether where players can't get, and is called "The Voice of the Deep". The Voice of the Deep is resistant to Watcher magic due to the watchers fighting it too much, and weak to vex magic, due to how much it changes.

BadTime's name is Scix (curtsy of a friend). He's monochrome like Scar's demise skin due to a fight with Scar and a messed up spell, but has small patches of color. Once he and Scar made up, he was a bit relieved his brother didn't hate him. He lived in the nether for a time and speaks piglin. Piglin won't attack him.

Hels was a demon in the nether, and Wels' half brother. Their first meeting didn't go well, and Hels ended up trapped in the nether, only for Wels to save him, and he was grumpy and then sad. Angsty boi.

Anyways, thank you all for understanding. Sorry about not posting something. I'll try to get something fun for you all out tomorrow. Promise. At the very least, you'll get baby slime Jevin, which I plan to be very cute.

You all are amazing, and so nice! Love you guys platonically. Have a nice day. Remember to eat and drink water. If you have medicine, don't forget it (like me)! Remember to sleep on time too. Have fun too! Laughter is the best medicine! <3 <3 <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don't actually have to answer the question. Just silently judge me for liking both versions. With and without the outlines.
> 
> You also don't have to do anything with the ideas you shared. If you do tho, share it with me! Or if you just want to suggest something (request or headcanon, or ask about the RPs and such), that's fine too.


	40. Hush Little Jevin (Baby Slime Jevin)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by Fintastica: baby slime Jev
> 
> Answer: Sure! Sorry it took so long to get one out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to add my music!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e2VxsRxbFc
> 
> I included some of the lyrics of this one in the chapter! Have fun!

Joe was flying over to Jevin’s base. They were supposed to meet up that day. Jevin had wanted to spend some time with his friend. Joe had agreed that he wanted to spend time with Jevin too. When he got there though, he couldn’t find Jevin. He looked all over the place for his slime friend. He even checked buckets, in case the guy was taking a nap in one!

When he didn’t find him, he started to panic a bit and start checking everything. He found Jevin at a slime farm, but Jevin wasn’t normal. He looked to be a baby slime, and he was being approached by a larger slime.

Remembering what Jevin had said about larger slimes absorbing smaller ones, he swooped down and scooped Jevin up in an empty bucket before anything could even touch him. He looked down at the baby slime in the bucky who was crying.

“Oh no no...Don’t cry Jevin...I’ve got you. It’s me. Joe...do you remember me?” He frowned as baby Jevin kept crying. He sent Xisuma a message about the server having another age error, and then he went to his home. He’d keep Jevin safe in the meantime. 

The problem is, little baby Jevin wouldn’t stop crying. He didn’t know what to do. How does one stop babies from crying? He didn’t need food hopefully, because what baby slimes eat is not his strong suit. He didn’t seem tired. Or in need of anything else.

He looked at his friend. “Oh Jevin…” He tried to rock the bucket the baby slime was resting in. What to do? What to do? He got an idea.

He hummed and put a music block down. “You’re gonna love this... _ Hush baby Jevin, don't say a word, JoeHills is gonna get you a mockingbird, and if that mockingbird won't squeak, Joe's gonna get you Mellohi, and if that mellohi won't play~ Joe's gonna get you a dai-O-ray, and if that dai-O-ray fills up, Joe's gonna get you a flower pot, and if that flower pot won't grow, Joe's gonna get you a bit of snow, and if that bit of snow dost melt, Joe's gonna get you a bit of kelp, and if that kelp doesn't thrive, Joe's gonna do the jumpin Jive, and if that jive doesn't make you laugh, Joe's gonna get you some tasty taff~ And if that tasty taff's gone bad, Joe's gonna get you a dai-O-mand, and if that dai-O-mand won't shine, you'll still be the best friend of all time. _ ” He smiled as Baby Slime Jevin stopped crying. Joe relaxed a bit and smiled.

“Oh thank god...See? I told you you’d love it.” He rocked the baby Jevin who yawned and he sighed a bit. “Maybe it’ll be all better soon. I hope X finds a solution before the day is over...but you’ll be alright buddy. Joe’s got ya…” He smiled as Jevin looked up at him and cooed. He made a “daw” sound before he decided to do some work, and keep Jevin close to him. He attached Jevin’s bucket to his belt. 

He wouldn’t let his friend get hurt, and he softly sang as he worked, lulling the baby to sleep. He made sure to keep quiet and not wake him. Poor Jevin. He then did some basic farming and such. He didn’t do anything that was too loud. It wasn’t worth it if he woke up baby Jevin while he was asleep. He didn’t want him upset either. 

“ _ Sha ta co-ti os cum-na ridh na~ Sha ta co-ti o nu-ga Tír na nÓg~ Sha ta co-ti os cum-na-ridh na~ Nu-ga Tír na nÓg~ Come my love our world's would part~ The gods will guide us across the dark~ Come with me and be mine my love~ Stay and break my heart~ From the shores through the ancient mist~ You bear the mark of my elven kiss~ Clear the way, I will take you home~ To eternal bliss~ Sha ta co-ti os cum-na ridh na~ Sha ta co-ti o nu-ga Tír na nÓg~ Sha ta co-ti os cum-na-ridh na~ Nu-ga Tír na nÓg~ Sha ta co-ti os cum-na ridh na~ Sha ta co-ti o nu-ga Tír na nÓg~ Sha ta co-ti os cum-na-ridh na~ Nu-ga Tír na nÓg~ Tír na nÓg oh, come beyond the ancient fog~ Tír na nÓg oh, come with me to Tír na nÓg~ _ ” He had noticed Jevin starting to stir and he didn’t want the little guy to wake up yet, so he just started singing the first thing that came to his head.

He ended up having to figure out what baby slimes eat, which he should have just realized he could give baby Jevin a slimeball, but he was worrying too much. His friend was a baby! Of course he panicked. He was calmer now. This one was a bit harder for Xisuma to fix, but that was fine once Joe got used to Jevin being a baby.

Joe was super attentive to the little Jevin. He didn’t want the little guy to suffer, after all. If anything, Jevin was being spoiled and no one could stop Joe. Joe even brought Cleo in on it, and Cleo learned how to make slimeballs sweet, and Jevin LOVED it so much. They had to limit how much he got because of how much he loved it.

Jevin never failed to calm down once Joe or Cleo started to sing. He would hear their voices, and then sink into his safety bucket, and sleep. They never left the safety bucket someplace they couldn’t see or attend to him. They didn’t want to risk it. Jevin was important to them, and they didn’t want the little guy upset.

The first couple days were hard. They weren’t used to it and had to sing a lot. Jevin loved Joe’s lullaby the best, but he enjoyed when Cleo sang sea shanties. He was a happy bouncing baby slime. He watched them build and enjoyed being spoiled. Cleo tried to teach Jevin how to say words, but all the little guy managed was tiny bubbles.

Joe laughed a bit, and it was a surprise to BOTH of them when Joe was suddenly not a baby, and had no clothes. They averted their eyes and gave him spares.

“We do NOT talk about this. And do NOT mention the baby stuff to ANYONE.” Jevin was so red and embarrassed as he got dressed.

“Don’t worry Jevin. We won’t tell anyone.” Joe smiled at him.

“Aye! Don’t worry about it buddy!” Cleo beamed and smiled when Jevin hugged them both. She and Joe hugged back and they decided to spend that day together, ignoring their builds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I don't think I'm getting around to writing a second oneshot before I go to bed and I have work tomorrow. My brain just had a stall and couldn't think of the word for "fire". So yeah. I'll write more on my next day off, though I might make some more drawings.


	41. Can't Forget (Fire Spirit!Tango)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REQUEST by A Name (Guest User): For some reason recently I've head stuck in my brain the idea of tango being a fire spirt and therefore able to at will light any part of his body on fire, and the angst that goes along with that.  
> With that comes the idea oh him, zedaph and impulse being captured by some sort of unethical scientist and him being forced to burn zedaph and impulse. Or them all sleeping in a bed together when tango has a nightmare. This nightmare leads to the response of going ablaze and accidently burning his bedmates. And then feeling really guilty about it.
> 
> Answer: Sorry this took so long. I wanted it to be done well!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Torture, burns, experimentation, nightmares, and panic.
> 
> Here's what I was listening to! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9731CSwQII

_ Everything around the cage was white and stainless. Monochromatic and bright. People around him were talking in another language about him and his boyfriends. Scientists. They had seen him, a fire spirit...part blaze, and wanted to do experiments on his physical abilities. He tried to pretend he wasn’t any different from a human, but they forced him to flare up. He had encased himself in fire to defend himself. He had full control of fire and they had forced him to summon fire to protect himself. _

_ Zedaph and Impulse had only been taken because it was the only way they were going to get him too. They threatened them and forced him to flare around them. They had gotten burned and hurt multiple times. It hurt so much to do that.  _

_ He had refused so many times. They had beat him. He had coughed up blood those times. They tried to inject him with brain altering drugs, but his body burnt them out of his system. He shook every time they injected him with a new drug trying to get it to work. It left him feeling sick every time a needle was brought about. _

_ The worst time was him trying to fight them to protect Impulse and Zedaph. They shoved him into a chair and electrocuted him. He had screamed as his muscles contracted and his vision went white. He was certain his heart stopped a few times, but they wouldn’t stop. It hurt so much. _

_ Then they made him burn Impulse. Oh sweet Impulse didn’t blame Tango. But Tango blamed himself. They wouldn’t even have BEEN in this situation if it wasn’t for him...They made him burn Zedaph too and that’s what broke him. He cried lava instead of normal tears out of anguish. He hadn’t cried lava instead of tears in a long time. It was like crying blood. It wasn’t a good thing for him, but the scientists just wanted him to do more...they wanted to know more. _

_ One time they went too far, and they hit Zedaph in front of Tango, making Zedaph cry. Tango lost it. He burned the scientists down and he let Impulse carry Zedaph as they got out of there. But all he could see was Zedaph and Impulse burning. It wasn’t his fault! Stop making them respawn! They look so lost and hopeless! It hurt so much! No no  _ **_NO!_ **

* * *

Tango jolted awake to the sound of Impulse and Zedaph letting out painiced and hurt yelps. His heart stopped for a second when he realized he was on fire. NO. He had flamed! He had been sleep cuddling with them! He pulled away and tried to calm down, hyperventilating a bit. Nononononononono! He wheezed and he couldn’t breathe. His fires snuffed out and he gasped as he couldn’t breathe.

Zedaph slowly reached out to Tango. “Tango, Babe. Calm down. Breathe. It’s okay. We aren’t hurt! Just startled. Take a deep breath.” He put his hand on him. “Breathe in and out for me Tango…” Tango took a deep shaky breath in and out. “Good. Good Darling. You’re doing great. Impulse, can you get Tango something to drink? He’s a bit warm.”

Impulse nodded. “Of course babe.” He rushed to get water and some cookies and came back. “Come on Tangs...You need to drink this and take a deep breath. Maybe nibble some serotonin boosting happiness.” He smiled a bit as Tango snorted a little and he took the cup first and drank the water. He then took the cookies and nibbled. Impulse slowly hugged Tango and cuddled him. “It’s okay babe. Whatever you dreamt, it wasn’t real. We are right here and no one is hurt.”

Zedaph gave Tango’s cheek a kiss. “He’s right Tango. We love you. We don’t want anything to happen to your perfect face.” He gave Tango a soft smile.

Tango whimpered a little, but was smiling. “I...I dreamt of the labs...I...they made…”

Impulse cut him off with a hug. “You don’t need to talk...We were there.” He peppered Tango in kisses. “And I can promise you it will never happen again. I mean it. You are safe, and so are we.” He held Tango and cuddled him.

Zedaph hummed in agreement. “We are safe Tango. No need to worry about the past. We are here now, okay? We are safe. No one can get to us again. You and I both know that Xisuma wouldn’t allow anyone like that onto the server with ill intent.” He pet Tango’s hair. He hummed softly to him.

“I just...I woke up and heard your shouts and I thought I hurt you guys again…” Tango cried a little bit and clung. “I thought…”

Impulse hugged him more. “Shhh...We’ve got you Tangs. We have you. Just breathe and let us smother you with kisses and cuddles, okay?” Tango nodded and Impulse started to pepper Tango with kisses.

Zedaph smiled. “You both are the light of my life.” He gave Tango his own set of kisses, and then he gave Impulse his own set of kisses. His boyfriends deserve all of the love and the kisses. All of it.

“You two are the best...sorry if I startled you both this morning…” Tango sighed a little.

Zedaph smiled. “You don’t need to be sorry, Tango.” He hummed a bit.

Impulse nodded. “You don’t need to be sorry for anything. You are ours and we are yours and we know you would never willingly hurt us. It is okay.” He gave Tango another kiss. Tango relaxed a bit and cuddled. Zedaph smiled and nuzzled his boyfriends. Tango knew then, it would be okay. He had his two lovely boyfriends, and he didn’t hurt them. He wouldn’t have to hurt them ever again. All he ever had to do now was to love them and care for them, and that he was 100% sure he could do. This was the type of cuddling and affection he had been wanting for a while. He just wished he didn’t need to have nightmares to end up getting the affection he desired. Impulse and Zedaph cuddled and went back to sleep. Tango smiled and closed his eyes, falling to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's taking so long to get around to even one request. I promise that I'm working on it.


	42. UPDATE 3 - Not a Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, my brain died.

Sorry. I was planning on writing today, but my brain died. I'm gonna copy paste the blerb from the end of the last update chapter, and I'm gonna share the full image of my profile picture! I also am going to share another Hels.

Old Grumbot Art:

New Hels Art:  
  


Alright, here's the section with the ideas that I have, but am not sure if I am going to write or not. You all have full permission to write these if you desire to, or if they inspire you. I had fully intended to write today, but I just can't think.

I'll include 2 detailed ideas and 4 generic ones _(one or two of which I may or may not have requested to someone already)_ . If you happen to want to write for any of the ideas, feel free to write/draw/other them and share them with me! I'd be happy to see what you can come up with! <3 If you don't that's fine too! I'm just curious to see if any of these ideas inspire you all.

  1. Detailed Idea: Ship- Iskall/Mumbo/Grian/Docm77, Season 6. Grian's scared of Doc due to a couple encounters and the prank that was supposed to get Cleo but got him instead. During the Civil War, there's a small encounter, and it causes Grian to have a panic attack. Doc goes to follow him. Maybe Mumbo and Iskall get protective? Maybe not. Maybe Doc helps Grian through a tough time and shares something that was hard on him. But Doc is the to be the first one to actually be like "I want to date you" to Grian and there be envy from the others.  
  

  2. Detailed Idea: Mother Spore Grian mothering all of HEP secretly, and then something happens while the Resistance is off world/server like Grian getting hurt or having a breakdown and he tries to get help from HEP, but he doesn't press it when he thinks they think he's not serious, thinking they wouldn't come at first, only for all of them to come and then realize that it was Grian who had been helping them, making sure they had beds or food and such, because he had boxes labeled for each HEP and Resistance member with self care items to take with him when he checks on them. Lots of self care and fluff and comfort and love.  
  

  3. Short Idea: BDubs is a phantom/magical sun resistant magic eater/vampire. Shenanigans ensure due to phantom nature.  
  

  4. Short Idea: Big Brother Watcher Domrao and First bring NPG and Robo!Grian to visit their brother Xelqua. Fluff, or you could do a hurt/comfort route, or other.  
  

  5. Short Idea: Angst = Grian cuts off his watcher wings after one too many careless comments.  
  

  6. Short Idea: Grian has a wedding with like, 5 husbands _(or more, or less, but at least 3 husbands)_ and is wearing a dress and invites his family and all the other hermits. Chaos ensues.  
  

  7. Bonus Idea: Evil X meets Hels for the first time on top of the HEP building. Hels went to hide so that no one would see him cry, and he sees a depressed Ex there, who thinks his brother would ban him any moment, even if he does nothing wrong. Then Ex introduces Hels to BadTimesWithScar. Friendship occurs.  
  

  8. New Idea: Keralis is sick and tired of his friends not taking care of themselves and their sweet faces, and decides to do something about it.



**Note for the Watcher stuff, here is some of my headcanons:**

Domrao is the second watcher, the first one doesn't have a name and is just called First for me. I call NPG by the name Neo, and the Robo!Grian is Ricky, I discovered all this by accident due to RP and overthinking stuff.

First is very much the parent of the group of brothers, being the oldest. Dom's the second oldest, Grian is the middle child, Ricky is younger than Grian, and Neo is the youngest of the brothers.

Dom very much gets annoyed by Grian _(the most)_ and Neo can't do anything wrong in anyone's eyes. First dislikes pranks, but isn't afraid to "punish" people for pranks (he totally pranked Grian with bedrock. Grian was furious, but also happy because his brother finally participated).

But any interpretation you do is up to you. Change it up if you want to! But I also headcanon that Grian, while he may not like most of the unrelated watchers _(there's more than one family/group of watchers, which is where the bad reputation comes from. First and Dom are very much good people)_ , he misses his brothers a great amount.

I also headcanon that a watcher's wings is tied to their emotions. If they lose their wings, they lose emotion. If they tear up their wings, their emotions will be messed up. If they leave broken feathers in, they'll have broken emotions. So taking care of the wings are important.

**Headcanons for Evil X, BadTimes, and Hels:**

Evil X's name is Xanthi. Someone else suggested it to me and I love it so I'm rolling with it. He also loved his dad (Doom Guy) and misses him. He adores his brother and worries too much now that he's no longer controlled by an evil voice. He was saved somehow, either by X noticing an anomaly in Season 6, Watcher Grian noticed the ban went wrong and saved the guy, or some other way involving X and or Grian.

The Voice that bothers him all the time is from deep in the Nether where players can't get, and is called "The Voice of the Deep". The Voice of the Deep is resistant to Watcher magic due to the watchers fighting it too much, and weak to vex magic, due to how much it changes.

BadTime's name is Scix (curtsy of a friend). He's monochrome like Scar's demise skin due to a fight with Scar and a messed up spell, but has small patches of color. Once he and Scar made up, he was a bit relieved his brother didn't hate him. He lived in the nether for a time and speaks piglin. Piglin won't attack him.

Hels was a demon in the nether, and Wels' half brother. Their first meeting didn't go well, and Hels ended up trapped in the nether, only for Wels to save him, and he was grumpy and then sad. Angsty boi.

Anyways, thank you all for understanding. Sorry about not posting something.

You all are amazing, and so nice! Love you guys platonically. Have a nice day. Remember to eat and drink water. If you have medicine, don't forget it (like me)! Remember to sleep on time too. Have fun too! Laughter is the best medicine! <3 <3 <3

Edit: I'm adding this here so I have a place to keep track of this. These are the requests I have so far:

  1. All the Hermits realizing Grian is Xelqua, and that Xisuma is dating his god. _(To be worked on as I get ideas)_
  2. Angsty self conscious magic boi (Scar)- and maybe a ship thrown in
  3. Bdubs/Scar/Grian with a bit of angst
  4. Dadsuma/Mother Spore taking care of frustrated/tired Doc.
  5. Scar/Evil X stuff, hurt/comfort
  6. Cleo, Jevin, and Joe with angst
  7. xBCrafted/Hypnotizd Fluff
  8. Sassy Teen Grian who doesn't remember the Hermits interacting with said hermits
  9. Fire Spirit Tango Falls into Lava
  10. Fluffy polytechs fic centered around a nonbinary Iskall (This one might leave me stumped. I've never written for nonbinary characters before, but I honestly want to give it a try. I just need to do some research first).
  11. The Hermits finds out what Xisuma is hiding under his helmet (also make it angsty, no ships) 
  12. Fluffy Grian/Impulse
  13. Songfic! <https://youtu.be/231M3y9c2ms>
  14. Songfic 2! <https://youtu.be/rdnUDZu0dno>
  15. Mother Spore Grian ft BDubs (HEP Edition, to be worked on after Xelqua and as I get ideas/prompts)
  16. Someone requested I write either 5 or 8 of my own ideas I shared for you all, so I will when I get to it
  17. Angsty and Hurt/comfort Xisuma



**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Sugar cookies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28542738) by [AGamingSock (kylekat888)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylekat888/pseuds/AGamingSock)




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